• 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN 
ADVENTURES 


BY 


M.  B.  SHELTON 


1 1 


TlRJSTOPjlER. 

PUBLISHING 
HOUSE 
^ S 

BOSTON 


65 


Copyright  1920 
BY  THE  CHRISTOPHER  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 


CONTENTS 
FOREWORD  7 

CHAPTER  I  9 

On  my  way  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Stop 
over  at  Nashville,  Louisville,  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City.  Fight  with  the  Indians  while 
crossing  the  "Great  American  Desert."  Reach 
Denver  City  in  perfect  safety. 

CHAPTER  II  33 

Arrived  in  Georgetown.  Went  to  work  next 
day.  Learning  how  to  mine.  First  discovery. 
Beautiful  mineral  but  low  grade  ore.  Work  on 
"Terrible"  mine.  Nearly  a  mining  accident. 
Bought  half  interest  in  "King  David"  mine. 
Valuable  ore  but  "petered  out." 

CHAPTER  III  61 

Could  have  owned  a  third  interest  in  "Dives" 
mine.  Formed  partnership,  preferable.  Found 
an  iceberg  a  million  years  old.  Origin  of  "Boom 
Ditch"  idea.  Mountain  lion,  bear  and  black 
squirrel  in  chaparral  district.  Broke  another 
one  of  my  seven  "dont's"  for  a  short  time. 
Spent  the  winter  months  merchandising. 


M142071 


CHAPTER  IV  85 

Allow  two  old  men  to  move  into  my  cabin 
with  me.  Investigation  of  Spiritualism.  Arrival 
of  brother  Daniel.  We  build  a  flue  around  a 
high  cliff.  Judge  Harmon  pays  us  a  visit.  Mc- 
Murty  owns  the  "Dives"  mine.  David  Hersha 
dies.  Visit  of  U.  S.  Grant.  Commence  tunnel 
on  the  "King  David"  mine.  Arrival  of  brother 
Shepard. 

CHAPTER  V  113 

Lease  on  Summit  mine.  Worked  on  a  mine 
discovered  by  a  mineral  bob.  Work  on  tunnel. 
A  case  of  lung  fever.  The  big  "Pulaska"  mine. 
Visited  a  dance  house.  Discovered  "R.  E.  Lee" 
and  other  mines.  Sold  Shelton  tunnel.  Decided 
to  leave  the  country.  Selling  the  "Pulaska."  A 
new  enterprise  on  tap. 

CHAPTER  VI  144 

Prospecting  in  the  San  Juan  country.  Large 
mineral  veins  but  low  grade  ore.  A  long  trip 
of  250  miles.  Failed  to  reach  Gunnison  mines. 
Indian  trouble.  Discouraged  return  to  George- 
town. Agreed  with  my  partners  to  make  an- 
other trip  into  the  mines.  Return  to  my  native 
home  to  stay. 


FOREWORD 


Only  a  few  words  are  needed  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  this  little  volume.  It  was  my  good  fortune 
to  return  home  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War, 
sound  in  limb  and  body,  without  a  scratch  or  scar; 
but  like  others  of  my  age  without  fame  or  for- 
tune, even  a  little  bit.  I  gave  up  an  easy  position 
with  a  small  salary  on  January  first  1867.  With 
a  sack  full  of  "wild  oats"  it  was  my  purpose  to  -go 
into  the  mining  regions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
discover  a  big  mine,  and  "get  rich  quick."  To  my 
mind  this  seemed  plausible,  and  maybe  an  easy 
thing  to  do. 

My  plans  and  hopes  in  this  direction  were  simply 
visionary  dreams  which  never  materialized.  A  con- 
tinued series  of  failures  met  every  effort  from  be- 
ginning to  end.  At  every  turn  of  the  wheel  the 
Fates  were  against  me,  with  nothing  left  but  the 
memory  of  past  events,  which  I  am  now  recalling 
after  nearly  half  a  century.  As  I  look  back,  the 
past  seems  to  rise  before  me  more  like  a  dream 
than  something  real. 

The  nine  years  spent  in  s-earching  for  the  hidden 
treasures,  with  many  hardships  and  adventures, 
had  all  the  alluring  features  of  a  romance,  though 
short  of  a  fortunate  hero,  always  found  in  ficti- 
tious writings.  The  one  enduring  thing  left,  was 
"a  heart  for  any  fate,"  and  ever  ready  to  sing  with 
the  poet: 

"Thus  humbly  let  me  live  and  die 
Nor  long  for  Midas'  golden  touch, 
If  heaven   more   generous   gifts   deny 
I  shall  not  miss  them  much, 
But  grateful  for  blessings  lent 
Of  simple  taste  and  mind  content." 


Kooky  Mountain  Adventures 

CHAPTER  I 

ON  MY  WAY  TO  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.     STOP 
OVER  AT  NASHVILLE,  LOUISVILLE,  ST.  LOUIS 
AND     KANSAS     CITY.      FIGHT     WITH     THE 
INDIANS  WHILE  CROSSING  "THE  GREAT 
AMERICAN    DESERT."    REACH    DEN- 
VER  CITY    IN    PERFECT    SAFETY 

At  the  close  of  the  war  in  1865  I  returned  to 
my  native  village  in  Northern  Alabama.  Like  a 
great  many  young  men  of  my  age,  after  this  great 
conflict  had  ended,  I  was  bankrupt  in  everything 
of  value  except  hope  and  a  willing  hand  to  do 
things.  Heaps  of  ashes  could  be  seen  in  place  of 
happy  homes  that  once  existed.  The  solitary,. and 
now  useless,  chimney  stems  were  pointing  to  the 
blue  sky  above  like  silent  sentries  guarding  some 
desolate  coast.  We  may  mention  with  complacency 
the  ravages  of  war,  but  we  have  no  right  to  com- 
plain, for  that  was  part  of  the  programme  from 
the  beginning,  and  nothing  more  than  might  be 
expected,  when  victory  went  to  the  other  side. 

Only  one  store  building  was  left  which  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  sutler.  By  permission  he  was  allowed 
to  sell  a  certain  line  of  goods  to  the  Federal  army, 
a  part  of  which  was  still  encamped  around  our 
village.  He  offered  me  a  position  as  clerk,  which 
I  gladly  accepted,  on  the  principle  that  a  drowning 
man  will  grab  at  a  straw.  All  my  former  aspira- 
tions of  obtaining  a  still  higher  education  had  been 
cast  aside  and  lost  in  the  maelstrom  of  "Secession." 
But  to  my  mind  a  clerkship,  and  by  no  means  a 
large  salary,  was  a  very  slow  way  to  retrieve  my 


10  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

fallen  fortune,  so  I  was  thinking  and  dreaming  of 
something  more  active. 

Gold  had  been  discovered  in  California  in  1849. 
Men  went  wild  if  not  crazy  over  the  excitement. 
Large  fortunes  were  made  by  men,  whether  they 
were  worthy  of  them  or  not.  Of  course  glowing 
descriptions  of  the  country,  and  the  great  wealth 
men  were  accumulating,  were  published  in  all  the 
leading  papers  and  magazines,  but  they  failed  to 
tell  that  for  every  success  there  were  at  least  one 
hundred  failures.  These  auriferous  products  of 
Nature  were  discovered  in  liberal  quantities  in 
1859  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
near  Denver,  Colorado.  The  old  excitement  had 
partly  subsided,  but  the  world  was  set  on  fire  a 
second  time.  The  war  between  the  States  covered 
the  blaze,  so  to  speak,  for  four  years,  but  the 
embers  were  there  waiting  to  be  uncovered,  when 
the  time  was  ripe. 

In  the  early  part  of  1867  with  a  few  hundred 
dollars  and  several  of  those  "sparks  of  Hope"  still 
alive  and  ready  for  duty,  I  decided  to  "beard  the 
lion"  in  his  den.  As  it  was  then  too  early  in  the 
year,  the  season  not  being  suitable  to  cross  the 
plains  or  prospect  for  gold  in  the  mountains,  I 
accepted  for  the  time  a  position  in  a  wholesale 
dry  goods  store  in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  to  terminate 
at  my  own  option. 

In  a  very  quiet  manner,  and  agreeable  to  all 
parties,  my  contract  as  salesman  was  canceled, 
which  left  me  entirely  free  to  continue  my  con- 
templated trip  to  the  mountains  in  quest  of  gold 
and  silver,  one  or  both.  I  left  Nashville  about  May 
20th  without  any  definite  idea  of  how  I  would 
reach  my  destination.  As  seeing  things  was  one 
object  in  view  I  concluded  to  visit  Mammoth  Cave, 
Kentucky,  but  it  would  require  too  much  space  to 
describe  this  greatest  cavern  in  all  the  earth.  It 
took  three  days  to  get  back  to  the  railroad,  but  the 
sights  were  worth  the  trip. 

A  few  days  were  spent  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  and 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  11 

while  there  I  visited  the  old  prison  barracks,  where 
as  a  prisoner  of  war  I  was  an  inmate  of  the  hos- 
pital department  for  nearly  two  months,  with  some 
uncertainty  about  getting  well,  but  the  building 
had  been  removed  and  I  failed  to  recognize  the 
place.  One  object  I  had  in  taking  this  route  was 
to  travel  as  much  as  possible  by  water.  To  me 
this  was  the  most  pleasant  mode  of  traveling. 
Further  down  the  river  I  stopped  off  a  few  days 
at  Henderson,  Ky.  Here  the  people  had  been  very 
kind  to  me  just  after  I  had  been  released  from 
Camp  Chase  prison.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
many  warm  friends. 

While  there  Mr.  Soaper  asked  me  why  I  failed 
to  answer  his  letter,  some  ten  months  previous. 
He  said  that  on  learning  Mr.  Watterman  could 
not  comply  with  his  contract,  in  which  I  was  to 
assist  him  as  teacher  in  the  high  school,  that  he 
had  written  me  to  return  and  resume  my  former 
position  in  his  store.  If  I  had  received  that  letter 
in  all  probability  Henderson  would  have  been  my 
future  home,  for  I  liked  the  city,  and  liked  the 
people.  But  the  time  had  passed  and  the  current 
had  drifted  into  another  channel.  It  often  happens 
that  a  very  small  matter,  if  taking  place  at  a  cer- 
tain time,  may  change  the  whole  trend  of  life. 

From  that  place  I  went  all  the  way  to  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  by  water,  changing  boats  at  Paducha 
and  at  St.  Louis,  remaining  in  the  latter  place 
nearly  a  week  to  see  the  city  and  the  sights.  They 
were  playing  Black  Crook,  a  spectacular  produc- 
tion, at  the  theater,  and  had  been  for  a  hundred 
and  sixty  nights  consecutively,  and  expected  to 
continue.  It  was  a  mixture  of  the  grand  and  the 
beautiful.  I  took  passage  on  a  boat  three  days 
before  it  left  on  purpose  so  I  would  have  a  nice 
place  to  stay  without  additional  cost  of  a  board 
bill.  The  pilot  of  the  boat  having  nothing  to  do, 
showed  me  the  attractive  features  of  the  city. 

It  took  six  days  on  the  boat  from  St.  Louis  to 
Kansas  City.  From  this  place  a  stage  line  made 


12  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

three  trips  each  week  to  Denver,  Col.  They  of- 
fered to  sell  me  a  ticket  from  Kansas  to  Denver 
for  $100.00,  but  I  paid  my  own  way  to  Salina  nearly 
100  miles,  and  the  agent  there  asked  me  $110.00 
for  a  ticket  to  Denver.  This  was  the  Western  idea 
of  doing  business,  or  maybe  there  was  a  little 
"graft"  in  this  price.  Late  in  the  evening,  while 
sitting  in  front  of  the  hotel  (it  pased  for  such) 
the  stage  all  the  way  from  Denver  drove  up,  and 
five  or  six  passengers  got  out  and  off  the  coach. 

This  was  the  first  conveyance  of  that  character 
I  had  ever  seen,  and  with  a  little  "cheek"  asked 
the  driver  to  let  me  ride  with  him  around  to  the 
barn.  I  told  the  driver  my  intention  of  going  to 
Denver  and  he  remarked,  "All  right  we  can  put  you 
there  in  five  or  six  days  and  maybe  less  time."  It 
was  over  500  miles,  and  the  stage  went  day 
and  night  after  it  started.  The  passengers  were 
supposed  to  sleep  on  their  seats,  or  if  in  the 
summer  time,  out  on  top.  On  examining  the  coach 
I  noticed  in  the  boot,  which  is  attached  to  the  rear 
part  and  used  for  carrying  baggage  and  other 
parcels,  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  blood.  In 
answer  to  my  question  about  it  the  driver  replied 
that  the  stage  on  the  way  had  been  "held  up"  by 
robbers.  One  of  the  passengers  not  willing  to 
give  up  his  money  was  killed  and  his  body  was  put 
in  the  boot  and  carried  to  the  next  station  for 
burial. 

At  first  I  thought  it  was  only  a  joke  to  frighten 
a  "tenderfoot,"  but  returning  to  the  hotel  and  in- 
terviewing one  of  the  passengers  I  found  he  had 
made  a  correct  report.  This  same  party  said:  "if 
you  expect  to  cross  the  plains  I  would  advise  you 
to  see  the  banker  here  and  leave  your  money  with 
him,  and  he  will  fix  every  thing  so  you  can  get 
your  money  from  a  banker  in  Denver.  About 
fifteen  or  twenty  dollars  is  all  you  will  need.  They 
charge  one  dollar  for  a  good  meal  along  the  road. 
I  have  been  in  several  "hold  ups"  but  have  made  it 
a  point  not  to  have  much  they  want.  These  des- 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  13 

perados  certainly  mean  business  every  time,  and 
there  is  no  use  losing  your  life  and  money  too.  By 
keeping  quiet  and  offering  no  resistance  they  will 
not  hurt  you  or  anyone." 

This  was  one  of  the  ways  the  "Great  American 
Desert,"  as  called  in  former  times,  was  crossed  in 
1867.  Of  course  numerous  emigrant  trains  had 
passed  over  this  route  in  former  years,  carrying 
their  own  supplies,  and  in  such  numbers  as  to 
secure  their  mutual  protection.  There  was  still 
another,  perhaps  more  heroic,  way  of  crossing,  at 
least  it  required  muscle  and  endurance.  The  ad- 
ventures and  hardships  of  this  latter  way  I  will 
try  to  call  to  mind  as  they  occurred. 

Early  next  morning  while  walking  down  the 
street  I  passed  a  gentleman  standing  on  the  side- 
walk, gazing  at  a  crowd  on  the  other  side.  He  ap- 
peared to  me,  as  pictured  in  my  mind,  an  ideal 
frontier-man.  He  wore  high-top  boots,  a  broad- 
brim hat,  a  heavy  mustache  and  rather  long  hair. 
As  an  introduction  is  unnecessary  in  the  Western 
country  I  proceeded  to  tell  him  I  was  a  stranger 
here  and  would  be  glad  to  receive  any  information 
in  regard  to  the  best  way  to  reach  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains out  beyond  the  plains. 

Jfie  replied:  "Well  judging  from  your  appearance, 
perhaps  the  best  way  for  you  will  be  to  go  by 
stage.  It  will  put  you  there  quickest,  and  in  an 
ordinary  way  safe  enough.  However,  there  is 
another  way.  I  happen  to  be  the  owner  of  a  wagon 
train  now  encamped  three  or  four  miles  out  on 
the  way,  and  nearly  ready  to  start.  I  need  two 
more  drivers  and  am  here  today  looking  for  them." 

This  was  all  new  to  me  for  I  had  never  seen  a 
wagon  train,  except  those  used  in  the  army  but  felt 
myself  ready  for  nearly  anything.  I  said  to  him : 
"Captain,  it  strikes  me  that  I  would  like  to  go 
with  you.  What  will  I  be  required  to  do  and  how 
much  do  you  pay?" 

"It  may  not  suit  you,"  he  replied.  "There  are 
sixty-six  wagons  and  each  one  is  pulled  by  ten 


14  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

oxen.  You  will  be  expected  to  drive  one  of  these 
teams,  and  yoke  up  as  well  as  unyoke  the  oxen 
you  drive  twice  each  day.  I  pay  one  dollar  per  day 
and  furnish  something  to  eat." 

"In  my  opinion,  Captain,  if  that  is  all,  you  can 
count  me  already  on  the  job,"  I  replied.  "In  my 
early  days  we  used  nothing  on  the  farm  but  oxen, 
except  for  plowing  and  riding,  so  I  understand 
their  nature  and  how  to  handle  them.  When  you 
are  ready  to  start  for  camp  give  the  motion,  and 
I  will  go  with  you.  I  can  get  ready  in  a  few 
minutes." 

"Just  wait  a  minute,"  he  said,  "let  me  tell  you 
something.  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  get  those 
fine  duds  off  and  put  away.  They  will  be  no  use 
to  you  on  the  plains.  Here,  I  will  go  and  show  you 
exactly  what  to  get.  A  pair  of  heavy  overalls,  and 
four  or  five  dark  colored  cotton  work  shirts ;  you 
may  need  a  change,  and  there  will  be  no  time  to 
wash  clothes  after  we  begin  to  move.  And  this 
hat  like  mine  you  will  need  to  protect  you  from 
the  hot  sun,  also  from  the  sand-storms  we  may 
have  to  go  through.  A  pair  of  boots,  neither  coarse 
or  fine,  you  will  have  special  use  for  them.  It  may 
take  us  six  weeks  to  reach  Denver." 

With  these  purchases  I  made  my  way  back  to 
the  hotel,  and  when  I  emerged,  clothed  in  my  new 
frontier  suit  it  is  doubtful  if  my  former  associates 
would  have  known,  or  been  willing  to  recognize, 
me.  Of  course  it  is  not  the  clothing  that  makes 
the  man,  but  they  are  a  fairly  good  index  to  his 
occupation  and  ideas  about  society. 

Meeting  the  Captain  later,  in  the  early  after- 
noon, he  said :  "You  are  all  right  now.  I  have  found 
another  man  and  we  are  nearly  ready  to  start.  Get 
your  grip  (which  was  a  regular  leather  valise) 
and  carry  it  down  to  the  stable,  and  I  will  carry 
it  out  in  front  of  me.  But  before  we  start  step 
over  to  the  harness  shop  and  get  a  black-snake 
whip  which  you  will  need  as  a  driver  of  oxen.  Get 
a  good  one;  it  will  cost  you  $1.50,  but  you  can't 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  15 

do  without  it."  We  took  a  kind  of  turkey-trot 
walk  and  reached  camp  in  good  shape. 

This  day  was  really  the  beginning  of  my  West- 
ern life,  and  is  one  reason  why  I  have  described 
the  events  a  little  more  in  detail  than  usual.  Al- 
though I  have  commenced  the  records  of  my 
Western  life  from  the  time  I  left  Nashville,  yet 
traveling  on  steam-boats  with  absolutely  nothing 
to  do  is  more  like  taking  a  pleasure  trip.  Living- 
like  a  regular  Nabob,  and  going  to  theatres  in  big 
cities  is  really  no  part  of  a  Western  life,  such  as  I 
experienced  for  many  years.  The  real  beginning 
should  date  from  the  time  I  met  Captain  Carlile 
on  the  sidewalk  in  the  street  of  Salina,  Mo. 

Our  encampment,  so-called,  consisted  of  a  corral 
made  by  all  the  wagons,  so  arranged  when  driven 
into  position  as  to  form  an  oblong  circle  and  nearly 
closed  at  each  end,  and  containing  about  an  acre  of 
land.  The  rainy  season,  for  this  section,  had  not  yet 
subsided.  Mr.  Carlile,  the  owner  of  the  train,  told 
me  there  was  not  much  use  of  starting  before  the 
tenth  or  fifteenth  of  June,  which  was  nearly  at  hand 
That  he  had  made  twelve  or  fifteen  trips  across 
the  plains,  often  loading  at  Kansas  City.  That  he 
knew  the  road  all  the  way  by  heart,  especially 
the  bad  places,  and  for  many  miles  this  was  one 
of  them. 

With  this  information  I  began  to  feel  a  greater 
degree  of  safety  in  crossing  this  long  stretch  of 
desolate  country.  As  the  wagons  were  already 
loaded  and  their  tongues  pointing  to  the  west,  a 
courier  was  sent  out  to  tell  the  herders  to  bring 
in  the  cattle.  In  about  two  hours  here  they  came, 
660  oxen ;  it  looked  like  a  thousand  or  more,  but 
they  were  all  driven  into  the  corral,  and  chains 
stretched  across  each  end  to  keep  them  there. 

It  was  the  duty  of  each  driver  to  pick  out  ten 
oxen  that  would  be  his  to  drive  on  the  entire  trip. 
The  oxen  all  had  big  wide  horns  except  two  mulies, 
and  before  they  went  into  the  corral,  I  claimed 
them  as  mine.  With  a  bow  in  my  hand  I  went  into 


16  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

the  corral,  as  did  others,  and  picked  out  a  large 
ox  for  my  right  or  off  wheeler,  and  took  him  to 
my  wagon  and  put  him  under  yoke.  When  each 
one  of  the  drivers  did  this,  then  we  all  took  an 
even  start  with  bow  in  hand  and  brought  out  an 
ox  to  match  the  other,  as  a  near  wheeler,  and  put 
him  under  yoke.  This  was  repeated  until  the  ten 
oxen  stood  ready  to  drive. 

When  everything  was  complete  Mr.  Carlile  passed 
around  the  train  to  notice  the  selections  made  by 
the  different  drivers.  When  he  reached  my  team 
he  said:  "Pard,  you  have  picked  out  the  best  team 
in  the  "outfit";  perhaps  he  said  that  to  others.  It 
was  the  custom  in  the  Western  country  to  call 
everything  an  "outfit"  from  a  pin  to  a  steam  en- 
gine. He  said  putting  the  mulies  in  the  swing, 
that  is  in  the  center  of  the  team,  was  a  good  idea. 
This  was  my  second  day  on  duty  and  my  first 
"stunt."  (The  last  word  is  of  course  slang  with 
a  different  meaning  from  the  word  found  in  the 
dictionary.  The  man  out  West  that  could  not  use 
slang  had  better  take  down  his  sign.) 

When  the  order  was  given  to  "pull  out"  it  meant 
that  the  front  wagon  of  the  right  wing,  driven  by 
White  Jim,  was  to  start,  and  all  the  other  wagons 
of  that  wing  followed  in  regular  file.  In  this  way 
the  right  wing  led  the  van  in  the  forenoon.  In  the 
afternoon  the  front  wagon  of  the  left  wing,  driven 
by  Black  Jim,  the  only  colored  man  in  the  train, 
took  the  front  lead,  all  of  the  right  wing  in  the 
rear.  My  place  was  in  the  center  of  the  right 
wing,  each  one  having  his  special  place.  This  plan 
was  continued  across  the  Great  American  Desert, 
at  the  rate  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles  per  day. 

On  the  fourth  day  out  we  "hung  up"  at  one  of 
those  bad  places  where  the  land  was  low  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  way  to  go  around  some  other 
way.  The  stage  went  by  in  a  gallop  and  hardly  left 
a  print  on  the  turf,  but  the  heavy-loaded  wagons 
moving  much  slower  cut  through,  that  is  a  number 
of  them  did.  I  managed  to  guy  my  team  a  little 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  17 

to  one  side,  as  did  others,  and  by  keeping  the 
wheels  moving  easily  went  across ;  however,  ten 
or  fifteen  were  down  with  their  axles  on  the  turf, 
which  meant  lots  of  work  to  get  them  out. 

A  corral  was  formed  out  about  a  half  mile  on 
higher  ground,  and  we  remained  there  five  days 
before  getting  ready  to  start.  It  was  the  duty  of 
the  night  herders  to  bring  in  the  cattle,  when  we 
were  on  the  move,  at  barely  good  daylight,  but 
when  detained  in  camp  they  were  relieved  by  a 
detail  of  three  men,  who  remained  on  duty  until 
past  9  A.  M.  when  another  relief  was  sent,  which 
on  this  occasion  fell  to  my  lot.  The  duty  of  a 
herder  is  to  keep  the  cattle  together  as  much  as 
possible,  and  try  to  keep  them  not  more  than  two 
miles  from  camp,  which  is  sometimes  hard  to  do. 

This  was  the  third  day  of  our  encampment,  and 
my  first  duty  of  this  character.  About  11  o'clock 
I  noticed  a  dark  cloud  looming  up  above  the  south- 
ern horizon.  By  noon  it  began  to  look  very  threat- 
ening and  I  was  wishing  for  the  third  relief  due 
at  1  P.  M.  The  lightning  in  vivid  streaks  reached 
clear  down  to  the  ground  and  the  thunder  seemed 
to  shake  the  earth,  such  earth  as  it  was.  The  rum- 
bling sounds  of  the  upper  deep  failed  to  cause  a 
cheerful  feeling.  But  all  this  grandeur  of  the  ele- 
ments was  cut  short  for  me  by  the  timely  arrival 
of  the  third  relief. 

In  the  distance  the  white  sheets  over  the  wagons 
were  plainly  in  view,  tho  not  less  than  one  and  a 
half  miles  away.  Under  the  circumstances  I  asked 
my  legs  to  take  me  there  as  quickly  as  possible. 
This  electrical  display  no  longer  had  any  charms 
for  me.  The  race  was  not  of  the  "turkey-trot"  kind. 
It  was  gratifying  to  feel  that  my  legs  were  "on  the 
job"  all  the  time  and  succeeded  in  making  precisely 
an  even  race.  I  have  read  graphic  descriptions  of 
great  storms  upon  the  ocean,  where  ships  and 
sailors  go  down  in  the  sea.  None  the  less  terrible 
are  the  great  cyclonic  disturbances  upon  these 
treeless  plains.  In  fact,  the  rolling  undulations  of 


18  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

the  land  reminds  me  of  the  waves  seen  upon  the 
ocean. 

Our  wagons  were  loaded  with  7,000  pounds  of 
freight  and  locked  together  in  corral  shape, 
making  us  safe  against  hurricanes  and  whirling 
winds.  The  rain  may  and  doubtless  did  fall  in 
sheets  of  water,  but  my  business  now  was  strictly 
on  the  inside,  and  I  had  no  time  to  look  out.  The 
iirst  thing  was  to  tighten  the  guy  strings  of  the 
wagon  sheet,  and  even  with  this  precaution  a  mist 
came  through  enough  to  wet  a  man  in  a  short  time, 
but  with  several  ply  of  blankets  I  kept  in  a  manner 
dry.  A  sense  of  security,  and  the  thought  of 
barely  missing  the  pelting  rain  mixed  with  hail, 
rather  prepared  me  to  enjoy  the  fury  of  the  out- 
side torrent,  made  glorious  by  heaven's  finest 
artillery. 

In  about  two  hours  the  rain  subsided,  the  clouds 
passed  away  and  the  sun  came  out  and  shone  as 
beautifully  as  ever,  and  even  more  so,  leaving  a 
quiet  impression  that  nothing  had  happened.  Sonic1 
of  the  boys  were  surprised  to  see  me  as  they 
thought  we  were  still  on  the  high  commons.  Mr. 
Carlile  and  his  two  assistants  rode  out  north  five 
or  six  miles  and  found  the  herders  trying  to  bring 
the  cattle  back.  It  was  after  night  before  they  re- 
turned to  camp,  and  hearing  them  tell  of  their 
adventures  and  hardships  made  me  feel  like  shak- 
ing hands  with  myself  for  being  lucky  enough  to 
miss  that  drive  "by  the  skin  of  my  teeth." 

After  leaving  Salina  I  noticed  all  along  for 
twenty  or  thirty  miles  out  that  some  one  had 
plowed  deep  furrows  around  plots  of  land,  which 
may  have  been  future  settlers  marking  off  their 
claims.  The  soil  was  dark  and  had  the  appearance 
of  being  fertile.  The  land  was  level,  and  without 
trees,  shrubs  or  rocks,  making  a  farmer's  regular 
Paradise  with  nothing  lacking  but  wood.  This  con- 
tinued all  the  way  out  to  the  place  where  we  were 
then  camping  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  Just  a  short 
distance  south  of  us  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  was  laying 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  19 

track  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  miles  each  day. 
In  all  probability  this  entire  section  is  producing 
corn  and  wheat  in  large  quantities,  as  there  was 
plenty  of  rain  for  agricultural  purposes.  Mr.  Car- 
lile  remarked  that  no  doubt  this  was  his  last  time 
to  cross  these  bad  places  that  had  given  him  so 
much  trouble. 

We  were  now  in  the  central  part  of  the  great 
state  of  Kansas,  and  from  this  point  further  on 
the  ground  was  higher  and  we  moved  more  rapidly. 
From  this  time  it  was  the  same  all  the  way  across 
the  prairie.  Every  morning,  while  a  big  star  was 
still  twinkling  in  the  East,  some  one  made  heavy 
raps  on  the  side  of  the  wagon  and  called  out 
witha  lusty  voice ;  "Roll  out,  roll  out,  the  cattle 
's  in  the  cavey  yard."  Often  it  seemed  that  I 
would  have  given  "half  my  kingdom"  for  another 
hour  of  sleep. 

If  anyone  said  anything  about  breakfast  he  was 
simply  "talking  thru  his  hat."  Not  any — not  even 
a  crumb.  No  time  to  eat  now.  We  usually  drove 
from  five  to  eight  miles  in  four  to  six  hours,  the 
distance  depending  upon  a  suitable  camping  place 
where  both  water  and  grass  could  be  found,  two 
things  absolutely  necessary.  The  further  we  went, 
it  seemed  the  more  barren  and  desolate  the  coun- 
try. If  some  one  should  be  curious  enough  to  ask 
where  we  got  wood  to  do  our  cooking,  the  answer 
would  be  easy  by  telling  him  that  we  used  "buffalo 
chips"  which  we  found  along  the  side  of  the  road, 
and  it  was  easy  to  put  them  in  a  sack  hung  on 
the  wagon  for  that  purpose.  Some  of  them  were 
nearly  two  feet  in  diameter  and  made  a  splendid 
fire.  In  the  afternoon  we  always  started  out  about 
3  P.  M.  and  continued  to  move  until  we  reached 
the  next  good  camping  place,  sometimes  8  o'clock. 

My  time  to  go  on  herd  duty  was  about  once  each 
week,  and  after  the  first  one  hundred  miles  further 
out,  I  found  a  special  use  for  boots.  It  was 
not  convenient  to  watch  the  foot-step  while  watch- 
ing the  cattle,  but  unless  careful  I  might  step  on 


20  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

a  rattlesnake.  They  seem  to  congregate  in  colonies 
or  at  least  they  were  more  numerous  in  some  places 
than  others.  In  certain  localities  it  was  no  unusual 
thing  to  see  hundreds  of  acres  infested  with  these 
reptiles.  They  seemed  to  be  a  little  careless  about 
getting  owt  of  the  way,  but  if  given  a  little  time 
would  glide  out  of  the  way  to  one  side.  If  I  was 
to  make  a  reckless  statement  of  seeing  ten  thous- 
and snakes  in  one  day  someone  might  want  me 
to  "fall  a  snake  or  two,"  but  they  were  there  to 
be  seen  all  the  same.  While  the  "rattler"  showed 
signs  of  anger  by  the  singing  of  his  tail,  yet  in  his 
behalf  I  can  say  he  bit  no  one,  not  even  an  ox. 

Two  other  denizens  of  the  prairie  occupied  the 
same  territory,  noted  more  as  objects  of  curiosity 
than  otherwise.  One  of  these,  the  prairie  dog, 
which  in  size  and  color  resembled  a  fox  squirrel, 
though  with  tail  and  head  like  a  dog.  He  was 
conspicuous  along  the  route,  especially  when  pass- 
ing through  his  "city."  He  stands  erect  upon  the 
threshold  of  his  burrow,  erect  like  a  soldier  at  "pre- 
sent arms,"  but  on  the  approach  of  danger  seeks 
refuge  in  the  windings  of  his  subterranean  home. 
The  other  little  creature  alluded  to  is  the  prairie 
owl,  about  the  size  of  a  pigeon,  and  singular,  as  it 
seems  it  too  claims  an  ownership  in  this  hole  in 
the  ground  as  a  protection  from  wind  and  weather. 
But  still  more  curious  it  the  fact  that  the  rattle- 
snake makes  this  burrow  his  home  also.  Whether 
the  little  dog  invites  his  guest  to  share  the  bene- 
fits of  his  home,  and  built  apartments  convenient 
for  their  use,  or  they  occupied  his  home  by  force 
of  invasion,  is  not  a  matter  for  me  to  decide.  In 
the  science  of  zoonomy  we  are  not  able  to  find  a 
similar  instance  where  three  distinct  species  of 
creation  dwell  together  in  peace  and  harmony. 

Traveling  days  and  weeks  without  seeing  a  tree 
or  even  a  bush  was  growing  monotonous.  The 
country  in  the  main  was  level,  though  undulating, 
with  sage  bushes  between  higher  places.  Off  in 
the  distance  small  herds  of  buffalo  and  antelope 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  21 

could  be  seen  nearly  every  day.  One  of  the  drivers 
with  a  long  range  rifle,  side  stepped,  so  to  speak, 
and  by  a  lucky  shot  killed  a  young  buffalo.  That 
night  and  next  day  seventy  men  had  something 
good  to  eat.  This  occurred  in  the  Smoky  Hill  River 
section.  That  night  several  of  the  drivers  reported 
seeing  groups  of  Indians  off  on  the  higher  points. 

The  assistant  "boss"  took  upon  himself  next 
day  to  vedette  for  the  train  and  keep  us  from 
falling  in  ambush  by  the  Indians,  which  was  all 
right  for  us  but  not  for  him.  Late  that  evening, 
nearly  sundown,  in  plain  view  of  the  train,  and 
about  a  mile  away  we  saw  three  of  the  "red-skins" 
make  a  rushing  covert  attack  upon  him.  Evidently, 
from  some  cause,  he  had  not  seen  them,  for  we 
saw  the  smoke  from  his  gun,  and  saw  him  fall  at 
the  same  time,  and  by  this  we  knew  his  earthly 
career  was  over  and  his  doom  was  sealed. 

The  entire  train  was  stoppe^  and  about  a  dozen 
of  us  went  out  and  brought  him  in.  They  had 
taken  his  watch,  money  and  saddle,  but  his  horse 
was  grazing  not  far  away.  They  also  took  a  piece 
of  scalp  from  the  back  part  of  his  head,  about  three 
or  four  inches  in  diameter.  That  night  we  buried 
him,  of  course  without  a  coffin,  from  the  light  of 
a  fire  made  of  buffalo  chips.  It  was  a  sad  and 
gloomy  scene,  and  caused  us  to  realize  that  the 
only  good  Indian  was  a  dead  one.  After  this  tra- 
gical event  the  driver  with  a  long  range  gun  did 
not  make  any  more  "side  steps"  to  bring  in  young 
buffalo. 

A  few  days  later  we  crossed  Smoky  River,  or 
what  passed  for  a  river.  As  far  as  I  could  see  it 
was  nothing  but  an  area  of  sand  one  or  two  miles 
wide.  It  was  reported  by  knowing  ones  that  the 
water  was  running  under  the  sand  all  right,  but  I 
happened  to  be  very  busy  at  that  time  and  could 
not  stop  and  dig  down  to  verify  the  fact,  so  had 
to  take  their  word  for  it. 

A  short  distance,  perhaps  ten  miles  further,  we 
came  to  a  "sure  enough"  spring,  coming  out  of 


22  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

the  earth  like  springs  do  back  in  the  United  States. 
By  making  a  long  drive  we  got  there  about  noon, 
and  remained  there  the  balance  of  the  day  and  all 
night  to  give  the  cattle  time  to  rest  and  graze 
on  the  fine  grass  growing  down  the  branch.  There 
had  been  quite  a  grove  of  trees  there  of  the  cotton- 
wood  variety,  judging  from  the  stumps.  The  trees 
had  been  used  in  building  a  fort  called  Wallace, 
and  a  number  of  federal  soldiers  were  stationed 
here  at  that  time.  We  learned  from  them  that 
the  Indians,  quite  a  number  of  them,  were  now 
on  the  war  path,  because  the  limbs  of  these  trees 
now  removed  had  been  used  by  them  as  a  burial 
place  for  their  dead  . 

The  "noble  red  men  of  the  forest"  had  donned 
their  red  paint,  and  very  little  of  anything  else,  a 
short  time  before,  and  we  were  just  now  receiving 
our  first  intelligence  of  the  fact.  They  had  been 
peaceable  for  many  years  before.  We  were  just 
in  time  to  be  "in  the  midst  thereof,"  and  it  was 
just  as  safe  to  go  on  as  it  was  to  turn  back ;  in 
fact  we  were  nearer  Denver  City  than  Salina,  so 
the  only  way  was  to  fight  our  way  through,  if 
necessary. 

It  seemed  to  me  there  was  very  little  use  in 
cutting  down  these  trees,  as  there  was  no  use  in 
building  a  fort,  especially  while  the  Indians  were 
peaceable.  It  was  entirely  useless  as  it  gave  no 
one  protection  except  those  on  the  inside,  and  be- 
sides the  railroad  would  be  across  the  plains  in 
another  year,  and  the  traveling  would  be  a  pleasure 
instead  of  a  peril.  The  stage  coach  had  not  passed 
us  for  nearly  a  week,  which  further  convinced  us 
we  might  have  trouble. 

The  weather  was  hot  and  dry,  and  the  roadway 
firm  the  balance  of  our  journey.  We  were  making 
better  headway  than  usual  until  next  day  about  4 
P.  M.  the  unterrified,  uncouth  and  uncivilized  "red 
skins"  made  a  dash  upon  the  rear  part  of  the 
train  and  cut  off  four  wagons.  The  fourth  wagon 
had  only  six  oxen  to  it  and  contained  our  supplies, 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  23 

also  extra  yokes  and  chains.  It  seems  the  object 
of  this  raiding  party  was  something  to  eat.  In 
some  way  they  knew  or  guessed  mighty  well 
where  the  supplies  were  kept.  When  the  fourth 
wagon  was  stopped  the  other  three  behind  it  did 
the  same ;  the  drivers  made  no  defense  but  went 
running  towards  th  front,  spreading  the  alarm. 
Not  a  gun  was  fired  on  either  side. 

A  train  of  sixty-six  wagons  and  teams  when 
strung  out  in  single  file  will  reach  over  a  mile, 
but  the  word  was  quickly  passed  up  the  line  to  the 
front  wagon.  It  required  several  minutes,  but  from 
the  thirtieth  wagon  back  we  formed  in  regular  bat- 
tle style  and  charged  back  to  the  rear,  but  "Lo  poor 
indian"  was  gone  and  out  of  sight.  He  had  carried 
with  him  all  the  sugar,  salt  and  lard  he  could  find. 
According  to  estimate  there  were  not  more  than 
fifteen  or  twenty  of  them.  The  two  wings  drove 
along  by  the  side  of  each  other  to  the  next  camp- 
ing place. 

A  council  was  held  that  night  and  it  was  decided 
we  would  start  out  next  morning  four  abreast, 
which  would  put  me  in  one  of  the  front  wagons 
on  the  extreme  right.  This  was  done  in  order  to 
keep  the  wagons  as  close  together  as  possible. 
The  cattle  were  kept  in  the  corral  that  night  and 
a  cordon  of  six  pickets,  relieved  at  midnight,  was 
placed  around  the  wagons  in  order  to  avoid  a  sur- 
prise attack  that  might  be  made.  Others  slept 
under  their  wagons  in  touch  of  their  firearms,  so 
as  to  be  ready  on  quick  notice. 

Mr.  Carlile  explained  to  us  that  they  would  try 
to  stampede  the  cattle  as  well  as  kill  the  drivers. 
Western  men  understood  that  any  animals  of  the 
bovine  kind,  including  the  buffalo,  when  stampeded 
want  to  run,  and  really  with  that  scare  on  them 
have  no  cow  sense.  We  were  out  twelve  or  fifte  .  i 
miles  from  Fort  Wallace,  and  near  the  state  line 
between  Kansas  and  Colorado.  Next  morning  in 
the  distance  on  high  places,  we  could  see  the  In- 
dians dashing  along  on  their  ponies.  About  8  A.  M. 


24  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

they  came  upon  us  with  a  mighty  rush,  whoop- 
ing, yelling  and  shooting. 

Their  attack  was  made  on  our  left  front,  riding 
at  full  speed  and  bent  over  on  the  opposite  side  of 
their  ponies.  There  were  about  fifty  or  seventy-five 
of  them  and  as  they  passed  my  corner,  making 
the  turn  of  the  circle,  my  old  Colt  revolver  spoke 
back  to  them  four  times.  Of  course  the  oxen  were 
a  kind  of  breast-work  for  me,  except  my  head 
and  shoulders.  They  were  not  more  than  sixty 
or  seventy  yards  distant,  riding  in  single  file.  Pos- 
sibly they  expected  us  to  run  but  we  did  not. 

They  made  a  complete  circuit  around  the 
wagons,  but  this  time  at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant,  which  showed  they  were  getting 
weak  on  the  job.  As  they  passed  the  second  time 
my  old  Colt  only  spoke  twice  more,  to  let  them 
know  it  was  still  on  speaking  terms.  The  one  in 
front,  or  the  leader,  carried  a  black  flag,  which 
meant  they  took  no  prisoners.  After  this  esca- 
pade they  rode  off  a  half  mile  or  so  and  stopped 
near  our  roadway,  enough  to  say :  "You  can't 
come  this  way."  Orders  were  given  to  form  the 
wagons  into  a  corral  and  take  the  oxen  on  the 
inside.  No  one  knew  their  intentions,  and  the 
situation  began  to  look  serious.  What  next  to  do 
was  a  very  important  question. 

One  of  the  "bucks"  was  waving  a  black  flag  about 
a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant.  I  could  not  see 
him  while  standing  on  the  tongue  of  my  wagon,  so 
climbed  up  the  £ront  with  my  head  near  the  bow 
that  holds  the  covering.  This  was  a  foolish  thing 
to  do.  The  solid  character  and  curvature  of  the 
bow  threw  the  bullet  from  his  gun  downward  and 
across  the  corral  hitting  one  of  the  boys  on  the 
hip,  causing  a  big  blue  spot  but  bringing  no  blood. 
I  carefully  examined  the  print  of  the  bullet  on  the 
bow  and  found  it  did  not  miss  my  head  more  than 
three  or  four  inches. 

An  inventory  of  our  arms  showed  only  forty 
pieces  all  told,  and  nearly  all  these  were  of  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  25 

pistol  variety.  Our  adversaries,  from  appearance, 
were  armed  with  breech-loading  carbines  and 
also  side  arms.  On  examination  I  found  six  or 
eight  bullet  holes  in  the  upper  part  of  my  wagon 
and  through  its  covering,  showing  they  had  shot 
too  high.  Other  wagons  showed  the  same  effect, 
but  next  time  they  might  aim  lower.  There  must 
have  been  two  or  three  hundred  shots  fired  on 
both  sides  and  it  was  a  very  strange  thing  to  me 
that  neither  man  nor  beast  received  even  a  wound. 
It  is  not  reasonable  to  think  the  whole  thing  was 
for  the  purpose  of  gun  play.  On  my  own  part  I 
was  not  much  scared  or  excited,  and  I  know  my 
shots  were  fired  to  hit  something. 

We  often  read  in  novels  and  in  some  histories 
about  the  Indian  war-whoop,  but  if  this  yell  heard 
that  day  was  the  real  thing,  then  my  ideas  were 
somewhat  perverted.  It  was  more  like  the  wild 
howl  of  a  dog  that  ended  with  several  sharp  barks. 
However,  they  caused  one  to  have  a  kind  of 
creepy  feeling  and  wish  himself  somewhere  else 
quick.  It  is  all  a  mistake  to  say  these  war  bucks 
won't  fight,  can't  shoot  worth  a  cent,  nor  don't 
know  how  to  ride.  These  three  things  are  their 
stock  in  trade,  and  by  them  they  make  a  living. 

We  could  see  them  collecting  their  forces  not  a 
mile  away,  and  expecting  them  to  renew  the  at- 
tack at  any  minute.  Mr.  Carlile  had  a  field  glass 
and  we  could  easily  see  the  commotion  caused  by 
a  fresh  arrival  to  their  ranks.  Out  on  four  or  five 
high  points  they  built  fires,  and  the  smoke  was  a 
signal  for  twenty  miles  afound,  which  brought 
in  the  recruits.  Their  long  spears  with  bright  tips 
on  the  end,  made  a  war-like  impression  of  a  savage 
nature  to  say  the  least,  and  served  to  increase 
that  creepy  feeling  previously  referred  to.  There 
was  no  disguising  the  fact  that  our  situation  was 
growing  more  critical  and  gloomy.  Visions  of 
tomahawks  and  scalping  knives  seemed  not  far 
away. 

A  council  of  war  was  held  among  us  to  devise 


26  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

some  plan  of  safety  if  possible.  We  knew  our  de- 
ficiency in  arms,  but  our  enemy  did  not  know  that, 
and  doubtless  thought  we  were  supplied  in  that 
respect  as  sensible  men  ought  to  have  been.  And 
further,  they  knew  we  could  use  the  wagons  and 
their  contents  as  fortifications  which  would  be 
greatly  to  our  advantage.  Still  we  were  uneasy 
over  the  prospects  and  anxious  for  some  definite 
plan  for  our  safety.  One  of  the  drivers  proposed 
to  go  back  that  night  to  Fort  Wallace  and  if  pos- 
sible get  the  soldiers  there  and  more  guns,  and 
return  by  daylight  next  morning.  We  were  still 
discussing  the  probability  of  a  night  attack  when 
Mr.  Carlile  told  us  that  in  his  opinion  he  could  see 
soldiers  coming  to  our  relief.  As  they  drew  nearer 
we  could  see  more  plainly,  and  in  the  joy  of  our 
hearts  got  our  artillery  in  shape  and  started  to 
meet  them. 

The  Indians  were  busy  watching  us  most  of  the 
time  and  had  not  seen  the  approaching  soldiers 
until  they  were  about  ready  to  open  fire  on  them. 
The  effect  of  the  first  volley  was  to  send  them 
flying  across  the  plains,  though  some  of  them  did 
make  a  stand  long  enough  to  shoot  back.  And 
this  is  the  last  time  we  saw  any  Indians  while 
crossing  the  plains.  This  might  have  been  and  was 
a  poor  way  of  celebrating  the  Fourth  of  July,  but 
it  was  not  of  our  choosing.  Four  years  previous 
I  had  celebrated  the  day  by  being  captured  as  a 
prisoner  of  war ;  neither  was  that  of  my  choosing. 

We  met  our  rescuers  with  a  profusion  of  thanks, 
and  it  might  be  truly  said  with  glad  hearts,  for 
there  is  no  way  of  telling  what  would  have  been 
our  fate.  The  troops,  about  seventy-five  or  a  hun- 
dred were  furnished  as  an  escort  to  the  famous 
Gen.  Hancock  who  had  checked  the  great  charge 
of  Picket  at  Gettysburg,  who  in  turn  had  charged 
the  bloody  angle  at  Spottsylvania.  He  had  seen 
our  wagons  from  a  distance  and  knew  in  reason 
we  were  besieged  by  the  Indians.  We  went  back 
to  the  corral  and  held  a  council  of  expediency.  The 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  27 

General  advised  us  to  go  back  with  him  to  Fort 
Wallace  and  remain  there  two  or  three  days.  Ac- 
cording to  his  ideas  these  Red  Men  were  mad 
about  something,  and  in  keeping  with  their  nature 
would  have  to  fight  somebody  and  then  have  a 
war  dance  over  it  before  they  could  get  in  a  good 
humor  and  willing  to  bury  the  hatchet. 

It  was  nearly  sundown  before  we  got  strung 
out  on  our  return,  though  when  night  came  on 
the  moon  made  it  nearly  as  light  as  day.  We 
reached  the  same  camping  ground  we  had  formerly 
occupied  about  3  A.  M.  after  an  absence  of  two 
days  and  nights.  The  experience  of  that  night 
affords  material  for  remembrance  if  not  for  re- 
flection and  meditation.  Everything  that  makes 
an  unpleasant  feature  in  a  healthy  man's  life  was 
crowded  together  during  this  long  drive.  We  were 
tired,  hungry,  thirsty  and  sleepy,  not  just  a  little 
bit  either,  but  a  feeling  of  safety  was  one  consola- 
tion. After  a  late  breakfast  next  morning  most 
of  us  crawled  back  in  our  wagons  and  went  to 
sleep. 

Remaining  three  days  at  Fort  Wallace  we  re- 
resumed  our  journey.  The  men  and  cattle  too  were 
all  in  fine  fettle  and  the  first  day  out  we  passed 
the  old  battle  ground  and  three  or  four  miles 
beyond  went  into  camp.  Further  along  we  came 
to  higher  grounds,  a  kind  of  plateau;  the  station 
was  called  First  View.  From  this  point  the  dim 
outlines  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  could  be  seen. 
It  was  over  a  hundred  miles  to  Denver  and  the 
crest  of  the  mountains  were  fifty  miles  beyond 
that  point.  At  this  distance  they  reminded  me  of 
an  undulating  bank  of  clouds  just  above  the  hori- 
zon, a  deception  not  only  pleasing  to  the  eye  but 
very  consoling  to  the  weary  foot-sore  driver. 

All  along  this  plateau  the  view  of  the  prairie 
was  also  magnificent,  spreading  out  like  a  great 
panorama  a  hundred  miles  in  every  direction. 
There  may  be  more  lovely  landscapes  or  more 
beautiful  scenery,  but  I  have  my  doubts  that  the 


28  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

world  affords  another  view  more  varied  and  ex- 
tensive. It  is  well  to  mention  now,  lest  I  forget 
it,  that  piles  of  rock  about  two  feet  high  were  all 
along  the  route,  said  to  have  been  put  there  by 
John  C.  Fremont,  the  "pathfinder,"  to  mark  out 
the  most  direct  route  to  Pike's  Peak.  I  am  not  able 
to  tell  where  he  got  the  rocks  but  they  were  there 
all  the  same. 

Yoking  up  of  a  morning  was  not  now  nearly  so 
much  trouble,  nor  was  walking  to  and  fro  along 
the  side  of  the  team  nearly  so  tiresome.  The  very 
idea  itself  of  being  in  sight  of  the  end  made  a 
world  of  difference.  I  conld  throw  my  black-snake 
whip  twice  around  my  head  and  clip  a  fly  off  an  ox 
without  touching  its  hide,  which  was  quite  an  art. 
I  could  also  sing  out  the  word  "Omaha"  in  regular 
western  style.  We  were  now  making  fine  head- 
way and  could  notice  the  mountains  were  looming 
up  higher  every  day.  Our  old  friends,  the  prairie 
dog  and  the  rattle-snake,  were  just  as  friendly  as 
ever,  but  the  poor  Indian  had  gone  where  the 
"woodbine  twineth,"  and  was  conspicuous  for  his 
absence.  The  jackrabbit,  the  coyote,  and  the  ante- 
lope were  seen  occasionally,  but  hardly  on  speak- 
ing terms. 

The  wagons  we  drove  were  called  "prairie  schoon- 
ers" or  "ships  of  the  desert."  They  were  made 
specially  strong  for  this  service,  with  three  inch 
tire  and  a  deep  bed.  These  schooners  were  loaded 
with  a  hundred  and  twenty  bushels  of  shelled  corn 
in  sacks.  We  commenced  unloading  at  First  View 
leaving  sixty  bushels  at  each  station.  My  career 
as  driver,  most  unexpectedly  was  soon  coming 
to  a  glorious  termination.  Mr.  Carlile  had  my 
wagon  unloaded  among  the  first  ones,  and  to  my 
surprise  asked  me  to  help  him  keep  tally  of  the 
weights  on  the  sacks  left  at  the  different  stations. 
He  was  also  gracious  enough  to  tell  me  I  could 
ride  the  extra  horse  that  had  been  kept  along  with 
the  train  since  its  rider  had  been  killed  by  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  29 

Indians.  This  was  a  kind  of  promotion  to  assis- 
tant boss. 

As  the  schooners  were  unloaded  they  were  at- 
tached to  others  of  the  same  character,  and  the 
oxen  herded  and  driven  that  way.  The  rations 
were  very  short,  due  to  the  thievery  of  the  Indians 
and  the  extra  time  we  had  been  delayed.  As  Mr. 
Carlile  had  a  good  horse  and  fleet  of  foot,  he  con- 
cluded to  ride  on  to  Denver,  and  meet  us  on  the 
way  with  supplies.  This  arrangement  left  me  in 
charge  of  the  train  three  days  and  nights.  Once 
more  I  was  having  a  good  time  after  a  fashion. 
What  I  was  doing  was  more  like  play  than  work, 
though  there  was  some  responsibility  attached. 
Perhaps  nothing  makes  a  man  appreciate  an  easy 
job  more  than  going  through  and  getting  off  a 
hard  one.  Really  I  had  nothing  much  to  do  only 
to  ride  along  leisurely  and  feast  the  eye  on  the 
rolling  plains  as  a  picture,  and  the  lofty  moun- 
tains as  a  background. 

When  we  reached  Denver  I  could  see  that  over 
half  of  the  corn  would  be  left  there  or  sent  on  to 
other  stations  further  along  this  same  stage  line 
extending  to  various  points.  Mr.  Carlile  asked  me 
to  go  with  him  up  to  headquarters  and  make  a 
report  of  the  corn  I  had  checked  out  at  the  differ- 
ent stations.  Fortunately  the  head  man  was  in  his 
office,  and  as  it  is  rarely  the  case  with  men  of  this 
class,  we  found  him  cordial  and  pleasant  in  his  de- 
portment. After  receiving  our  report  and  draw- 
ing a  check,  we  told  some  of  the  adventures  of 
our  trip,  in  which  I  was  permitted  to  do  some  of 
the  talking. 

Mr.  Carlile  remarked  incidentally  that  I  was  on 
my  way  to  Georgetown  as  a  prospector  with  the 
hope  of  geting  rich  quick.  He  further  remarked, 
as  a  matter  of  business,  that  a  complimentary 
ticket  to  that  place,  no  doubt,  would  be  highly 
appreciated.  Turning  in  his  easy  chair  to  his  desk, 
he  wrote  a  few  lines  and  handed  me,  with  scarcely 
a  break  in  our  conversation.  Parting  with  Mr.  Car- 


30  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

Hie  a  few  hours  later  my  last  request  of  him  was 
to  see  that  no  one  mistreated  my  always  faithful 
muley  oxen.  It  seems  strange  to  me  now  that  I 
did  not  keep  as  trophies  of  the  past,  the  pistol 
used  in  righting  the  Indians,  also  the  whip  used 
in  crossing  the  "Great  American  Desert." 

Although  I  was  anxious  to  get  up  in  the  moun- 
tains to  try  my  luck,  yet  I  remained  at  this  place 
a  week  or  more.  It  was  considered  prudent  and 
advisable  before  going  into  the  mountains  to  re- 
main near  the  base  or  foot  hills  for  a  week  at  least 
in  order  to  give  the  lungs  time  to  get  in  line  for 
the  extra  service  that  would  be  required  of  them 
in  higher  altitudes.  Denver  was  especially  adapted 
to  this  purpose,  being  about  twelve  miles  from  the 
base.  It  had  an  elevation  itself  of  5,000  feet,  with 
a  rolling  declivity  to  the  Missouri  River. 

I  had  worn  off  many  of  the  "tenderfoot"  quali- 
ties by  walking  across  the  plains  and  was  prepared 
to  tackle  nearly  anything  except  a  faro  bank  or 
poker  den.  Both  of  these  forms  of  "innocent 
amusement"  were  in  easy  touch  all  the  time,  where 
a  fool  and  his  money  would  soon  part  company. 
Denver  was  then  a  kind  of  rendezvous  for  men 
with  a  little  money,  from  smaller  places,  and  still 
holds  that  position  up  to  the  present  time.  It  had 
then  four  or  five  thousand  inhabitants,  it  now  has 
over  two  hundred  thousand  and  is  one  of  the  most 
thrifty  as  well  as  most  beautiful  cities  in  the  world. 
Its  early  history  is  quite  interesting,  and  the  future 
development  of  the  whole  country  was  contingent 
on  its  accidental  location,  which  deserves  more 
than  merely  a  passing  notice. 

From  the  time  gold  was  first  discovered  in 
California  in  1848  a  large  number  of  emigrants 
had  made  up  their  outfit  at  Omaha,  and  from  there 
went  through  South  Pass,  a  low  place  in  the  moun- 
tains, and  then  on  by  way  of  Salt  Lake  City.  It 
occurred  to  a  number  of  men  from  the  mining  sec- 
tion of  Georgia  that  to  start  from  Kansas  City 
and  go  south  of  Salt  Lake,  would  cut  off  the  elbow 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  31 

and  shorten  the  route.  Of  course  when  they 
reached  Platt  River  where  Denver  is  located  they 
were  good  and  tired  and  ready  to  rest,  at  least  a 
few  days.  I  am  free  to  accept  this  as  a  fact  from 
personal  experience. 

This  party  of  pioneers  was  headed  by  George 
Griffith  and  Green  Russel.  The  latter  being  a 
practical  miner  took  his  pan  down  to  the  creek 
(it  was  a  creek  in  time  of  low  water  but  a  river 
when  the  snows  in  the  mountains  began  to  melt 
and  scooped  up  some  of  the  sand.  On  washing  it 
he  found  a  "color"  of  gold,  and  this  little  find 
ended  their  journey  Westward.  They  divided  and 
followed  the  stream  up  the  several  canyons  from 
which  the  stream  debouched  and  one  of  them  found 
the  hiding  place  of  the  gold  near  the  point  where 
Central  City  is  now  located.  They  went  to  work 
and  before  cold  weather  approached  took  out  in 
gold  dust  and  nuggets  $32,000.00  as  a  reuslt  of 
their  labor. 

Circumstances, — the  want  of  supplies,  if  nothing 
else, — forced  them  to  return  to  Georgia.  They  told 
their  friends  and  others  of  their  wonderful  disco- 
very, and  they  had  the  evidence  of  the  truth  with 
them.  As  the  discovery  and  its  location  was  a  mat- 
ter of  national  importance  the  newspapers  all  over 
the  country  gave  it  wide  publicity.  This  vast  sec- 
tion at  that  time  was  a  pathless  unexplored  region 
known  as  "Pike's  Peak,"  which  had  been  located 
and  marked  on  the  map,  though  over  one  hundred 
miles  further  south. 

There  was  no  use  making  a  long  trip  overland 
to  California  when  gold  could  be  obtained  less  than 
half  the  distance.  In  the  early  part  of  1859  the 
"gold  fever"  was  at  a  high  pitch.  A  great  many 
under  the  excitement  began  to  move  in  that  direc- 
tion. It  was  a  common  expression  in  every  part  of 
the  country  to  hear  people  say:  "On  to  Pike's 
Peak  or  bust,"  even  among  those  who  had  no  in- 
tention of  going.  It  seems  strange  what  a  won- 
derful effect  the  magic  word  "gold"  has  on  the 


32  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

popular  mind.  I  was  told  that  some  people  crossed 
the  desert  plains  carrying  their  supplies  in  little 
push  carts. 

There  was  one  consolation,  however,  they  were 
not  called  on  to  fight  the  Indians  as  we  did.  Our 
train  was  not  only  the  last  one  of  any  kind  to 
cross  the  plains  but  the  only  one  that  had  to  fight 
its  way.  I  might  mention  here  that  we  hunted  up 
back  numbers  of  the  papers  and  read  a  description 
of  the  battle  fought  by  these  same  Indians  that 
attacked  us,  with  Gen.  Custer  up  on  Republican 
Fork  on  July  8th  and  9th.  He  killed  about  twenty 
or  thirty  of  them,  and  I  presume  they  had  their 
war  dance  and  got  in  a  good  humor. 

Not  that  there  is  conection  or  similarity  in  the 
events,  but  it  brings  to  my  mind  that  it  rained 
forty  days  during  the  great  flood;  I  served  forty 
days  doing  hospital  work ;  and  was  forty  days  in 
the  army;  and  now  I  had  been  forty  days  crossing 
the  plains.  Any  one  can  take  his  choice  if  he 
wishes  to  make  a  selection.  As  for  myself  one  is 
about  as  good  as  the  other.  In  my  future  efforts 
I  was  not  hunting  a  job  of  either  kind. 

After  this  great  excitement  of  1859,  eight  years 
later  found  me  in  the  wake  they  left,  possibly  try- 
ing to  trace  their  footprints.  It  may  be,  yes  it  was, 
with  a  hopeful  heart,  yet  with  many  forebodings 
as  to  profitable  results.  My  purpose  now  it  to  tell 
about  these  uncertainties  in  the  following  chap- 
ters. 


CHAPTER  II 

ARRIVED    IN    GEORGETOWN.     WENT    TO    WORK 
NEXT  DAY.    LEARNING  HOW  TO  MINE.  FIRST 
DISCOVERY.    BEAUTIFUL  MINERAL  BUT  LOW 
GRADE   ORE.    WORK   ON   TERRIBLE    MINE. 
NEARLY   A    MINING    ACCIDENT.    BOUGHT 
HALF      INTEREST     IN      "KING     DAVID" 
MINE.      VALUABLE      ORE      BUT      "PE- 
TERED    OUT." 

Away  up  in  one  of  the  mountain  gorges  there 
was  a  small  mining  camp  named  Georgetown,  the 
objective  point  of  my  journey.  In  fact  any  other 
place  might  have  suited  me  just  as  well,  for  hunt- 
ing the  hidden  deposits  of  mineral  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  blind  bat  trying  to  catch  a  mosquito 
on  a  dark  night.  One  morning  at  barely  good  day- 
light the  stage  was  ready  for  the  forty-five  mile 
drive,  and  so  was  I,  taking  my  seat  with  the  driver 
as  previously  arranged.  The  first  fifteen  miles  was 
smooth  and  level  and  it  seemed  quite  like  a  plea- 
sure trip.  Leaving  the  plains  and  the  foothills 
behind  us  we  entered  Clear  Creek  Canyon  and  con- 
tinued in  this  gorge  the  balance  of  the  trip. 

At  many  places  the  high  cliffs  came  so  near  the 
water  that  it  had  been  difficult  to  find  a  roadway, 
though  it  was  firm  and  well  built  even  if  steep  and 
hard  to  climb.  At  one  place  the  road  had  to  leave  the 
creek  a  short  distance,  and  we  went  up  a  hill  about 
half  a  mile  long.  The  driver  asked  the  passengers 
to  please  walk  up  the  hill,  which  we  consented  to 
do.  After  going  a  short  distance  I  found  my  legs 
got  tired  quickly  as  though  they  might  be  lazy, 
and  my  breathing  machinery  seemed  to  be  on 
extra  duty.  This  was  my  first  experience  in  the 
effects  of  higher  altitudes.  They  changed  horses 


34  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

twice  on  the  way  which  enabled  us  to  make  good 
time,  reaching  the  end  of  our  journey  before  night. 
I  found  a  boarding  place  for  a  few  days  only,  at 
$10.00  per  week. 

As  Georgetown  is  to  be  my  future  home  and 
habitation  for  several  years,  it  might  be  well  to 
give  some  definite  idea  of  its  location  and  sur- 
roundings. One  of  the  peculiar  features  about  these 
canyons  is  that  they  widen  out  from  a  quarter  to 
a  half-mile  at  places,  forming  beautiful  parks  from 
one  to  three  miles  long.  This  generally  occurs  at 
the  confluence  of  two  streams.  Although  up  in  the 
mountains  thirty  miles  from  the  foothills,  one  of 
these  level  spots  or  parks  was  formed  by  the  deft 
hand  of  nature,  and  there  Georgetown  was  built. 
Only  ten  or  twelve  miles  further  and  we  come  to 
the  Continental  Range,  beyond  which  the  waters 
flow  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

At  the  time  of  my  arival  this  was  a  new  mining 
camp  of  little  importance.  Several  years  previous 
George  Griffith,  one  of  the  first  pioneers  had  made 
a  few  discoveries,  and  along  with  others  built  a 
cabin  and  named  the  place  Camp  George,  his  given 
name,  but  later  it  assumed  the  name  of  George- 
town. They  soon  found  by  assaying  the  ore  that 
it  contained  silver  but  no  gold.  As  soon  as  this 
fact  was  ascertained  they  abandoned  their  disco- 
veries as  worthless,  at  least  for  the  time.  I  might 
say  in  this  connection  that  there  is  a  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  treatment  of  gold  and  silver  ore,  the 
former  being  always  free,  wrhile  the  latter  is 
always  in  combination  with  one  or  several  of  the 
baser  minerals,  such  as  zink,  antimony,  lead,  etc. 

The  treatment  of  gold  ore  taken  from  the  mines 
is  very  simple,  though  it  may  be  a  little  difficult  to 
describe  without  being  tedious.  I  have  seen  a 
hundred  and  fifty  stamps  in  operation  at  one  time, 
and  heard  them  too,  in  fact  could  not  hear  anything 
else  when  a  battery  of  that  size  is  in  motion.  A 
stamp  is  a  rod  of  iron  four  inches  in  diameter  and 
about  twelve  feet  long  with  an  eight  inch  bulge 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  35 

at  one  end,  and  the  other  end  a  crook  which  acts 
as  a  shoulder,  and  the  line  shaft  revolving,  the 
flange  lifts  the  stamp  about  two  feet  and  passing 
on  turns  the  stamp  loose  and  it  falls  on  a  die  firmly 
fixed  beneath. 

A  recepticle  of  the  proper  size  and  strength  for 
the  ore  is  constructed  and  properly  placed,  made 
water  tight  except  meshed  apertures.  A  constant 
supply  of  water  is  kept  running  into  this  long 
trough  and  the  millman  soon  learns  when  and 
where  to  shovel  in  the  ore.  As  the  stamp  falls  upon 
the  ore  it  is  pulverized  and  in  the  shape  of  muddy 
water  forced  through  the  meshes.  This  muddy 
water  runs  over  a  slightly  inclined  sheet  of  copper, 
to  which  cleats  are  fastened  about  one  foot  apart, 
and  quicksilver  pooured  along  on  the  upper  side  of 
the  cleats,  which  at  the  proper  time  are  removed, 
and  the  amalgam  is  caught  in  a  tub  conveniently 
arranged  so  as  to  catch  it. 

In  the  economy  of  Nature  she  has  been  generous 
in  providing  that  these  two  metals  will  adhere  to 
nothing  else  only  each  other  unless  released  by  a 
process  of  heat,  nor  will  they  separate  by  abrasion. 
All  this  muddy  water  is  conveyed  to  a  tub  by 
gutter,  where  more  quicksilver  has  been  placed. 
The  cleats  are  taken  up  when  thought  best  and 
everything  goes  into  the  tub.  Then  the  water  is 
drained  off  until  nothing  is  left  but  the  amalgam. 
This  is  put  in  a  retort  at  a  low  heat  the  mercury 
is  volatilized  and  collected  in  a  vessel  of  water 
ready  to  use  again,  and  nothing  is  left  but  the 
gold  dust. 

There  is  another  way  of  obtaining  gold  called 
"placer  mining"  which  is  quicker  and  often  more 
profitable  because  less  expensive.  It  seems  more 
than  probable  that  at  some  geological  age  the  ad- 
jacent surroundings  where  gold  is  found,  wrere  once 
much  higher  than  at  present.  I  have  traveled  on 
foot  over  the  trend  of  this  mountain  range  for 
several  hundred  miles,  and  visited  a  number  of 
gold  mining  camps,  and  my  observation  led  me  to 


36  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

the  conclusion  that  gold  was  found  at  a  lower  ele- 
vation than  silver. 

It  is  certainly  a  plausible  theory  that  the  moun- 
tains where  gold  is  found  were  once  much  higher, 
and  during  the  glacial  period  they  were  torn  down 
and  ground  up  by  this  great  moving  mass.  There 
is  too  much  debris  with  the  gold  deposits  along 
in  the  different  gulches  to  have  been  brought  there 
by  ordinary  abrasion  caused  by  melting  snow. 
There  is  very  little  doubt,  if  any,  that  these  deep 
canyons  on  both  sides  of  the  "divide"  originated 
in  the  main,  during  the  glacial  period. 

The  ordinary  miner  was  not  much  interested  in 
how  the  gold  got  there.  The  main  thing  with  him 
was  how  to  find  and  get  it  out.  Often  he  prospects 
along  a  single  gulch  for  a  year  or  more  by  digging 
holes  in  the  ground  and  testing  the  dirt  without 
finding  anything  of  value.  If  he  did  succeed  in 
finding  a  rich  deposit  it  was  called  "luck"  and  from 
his  point  of  view,  labor  of  itself  was  of  minor  im- 
portance. When  by  "patience  and  long  suffering" 
he  made  a  lucky  find,  the  mining  law  gave  him  the 
right  to  stake  off  a  certain  boundary,  which,  by 
putting  it  on  record,  became  his  property. 

It  requires  a  vivid  imagination  to  draw  a  pic- 
ture of  the  glacial  epoch  and  the  topographical 
changes  made  in  the  earth's  surface,  but  they  oc- 
curred, and  the  deposits  of  gold  they  left  were 
very  treacherous  and  uncertain.  When  a  discovery 
of  the  kind  referred  to  was  made,  the  most  impor- 
tant matter  to  consider  was  how  to  construct  a 
flue,  and  handle  the  water  in  the  best  way  to  carry 
through  the  flue  the  debris  consisting  of  dirt,  sand 
and  gravel,  also  to  dispose  of  the  boulders  too  large 
to  enter  the  flue.  But  men  by  experience  soon 
learned  this  to  a  degree  of  perfection. 

When  the  length  and  width  of  the  flue  is  decided, 
cleats  are  tacked  on  the  bottom  and  quicksilver 
placed  above  them,  also  in  the  big  tub  at  the  end 
of  the  flue.  With  this  all  complete  the  miner  is 
ready  to  commence  work.  The  best  and  richest 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  37 

part  of  the  claim  is  often  found  on  the  bed-rock, 
or  rock  in  place.  Depressions  or  saucers  have  been 
formed  by  abrasion  in  this  solid  rock,  and  a  single 
scoop  of  his  shovel  may  bring  to  light  a  pint  or 
more  of  solid  gold  nuggets  of  various  sizes  and 
shapes. 

Many  a  poor  fellow  after  standing  in  the  cold 
water  for  days  and  weeks  has  entered  his  dirt- 
floor  cabin  at  night  with  a  tingle  of  joy  in  every 
nerve  and  muscle  of  his  body.  His  dreams  of  "get- 
ting rich  quick"  have  been  realized,  because  there 
is  more  of  the  same  kind  of  stuff  to  be  captured  by 
scraping  the  bed-rock  at  other  places.  His  mind 
is  not  distrubed  by  thought  of  'graft'  or  cheating 
his  fellow  man.  In  turning  the  wheel  of  Fortune 
his  coffer  is  filled,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  an- 
other who  is  left  in  the  race  to  lament  his  loss.  And 
this  to  an  honest  man  is  worth  as  much  as  the 
gold  itself. 

When  Green  Russel  dipped  his  pan  in  the  sands 
of  Platt  River  he  made  a  discovery  that  opened 
the  way  for  a  band  of  adventurous  men  to  follow 
who  were  not  afraid  to  take  their  chance  in  the 
mountain  defiles,  several  hundred  miles  beyond  the 
borders  of  civilization.  This  discovery  of  his  led 
to  others  still  greater  in  the  same  line.  It  opened 
up  a  wide  field  for  the  development  of  commercial 
and  industrial  activities  too  numerous  to  mention. 
In  fact  the  future  building  up  of  this  part  of  West- 
ern country  hinged  upon  this  event. 

In  an  ordinary  way  it  may  seem  that  too  much 
space  and  attention  is  given  to  gold,  but  consider- 
ing its  great  utility  to  the  human  family  this  would 
be  hard  to  do.  It  stands  today,  and  perhaps  always 
will,  as  ''king"  in  the  metal  kingdom,  and  is  the 
unit  of  value  to  every  other  commodity  on  earth. 
Its  supremacy  commenced  even  before  Aaron 
made  the  golden  calf  and  hung  it  up  for  the  Chil- 
dren of  Israel  to  gaze  upon  and  become  healed.  A 
bible  student  once  told  me  the  real  virtue  was  in 
their  faith,  and  not  in  the  "calf." 


38  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

But  we  need  not  go  back  to  the  ages  of  antiquity 
to  find  the  highest  appreciation  for  its  necessity 
among  men.  In  this  modern  age  of  civilization  we 
find  its  power  has  increased  rather  than  dimi- 
nished. We  can  see  in  all  the  walks  of  life  that  it 
is  used  as  a  lifting  lever  to  give  strength  to  the 
actions  of  men  and  cause  them  to  do  noble  or 
ignoble  deeds. 

As  previously  mentioned  there  is  a  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  treatment  of  gold  and  silver  ores,  the 
latter  being  much  more  refractory.  The  process  of 
eliminating  it  from  the  baser  metals  would  be 
tedious  to  describe  and  might  not  be  interesting 
in  the  details,  therefore  will  be  omitted.  The  ordi- 
nary miner  knew  very  little  and  cared  less  how  it 
was  done.  If  we  concede  that  gold  is  king  of 
metals,  silver  deserves  to  be  crowned  "queen,"  and 
on  this  basis  all  other  metals  are  the  common 
people. 

I  have  now  written,  it  is  hoped,  not  at  too  great 
length,  in  regard  to  the  two  so-called  precious 
metals  which  have  for  centuries  served  not  only  as 
a  measure  of  value  in  the  commercial  world,  but 
as  a  basis  for  our  financial  system.  My  next  effort 
will  be  directed  to  trying  to  tell  a  few  of  the  priva- 
tions, adventures  and  disappointments  encountered 
while  searching  for  this  alluring  and  evasive  stuff 
that  sometimes  makes  men  and  women  go  crazy 
for  the  want  of  it. 

The  next  morning  after  my  arrival  I  walked 
down  town,  if  thirty  or  forty  rather  rudely  con- 
structed houses  are  entitled  to  the  name  of  town. 
There  were  already  two  streets  marked  off  which 
met  two  others  at  right  angles,  and  a  notice  on 
the  corner  lots  that  they  were  for  sale.  I  soon  met 
a  man  who  saluted  me  by  the  name  of  "Hello  pard," 
and  said  he  wanted  to  hire  two  men  for  a  few 
days  and  perhaps  longer.  I  had  learned  by  this 
time  to  dress  in  the  garb  of  a  laboring  man.  One 
of  the  men  that  crossed  the  plains  with  me 
also  went  up  to  Georgetown  and  was  boarding  at 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  39 

the  same  place,  so  we  found  him  and  he  was  ready 
for  work  in  a  few  minutes. 

We  followed  our  employer  to  a  point  where  he 
wished  to  commence  making  a  trail  over  a  mile  in 
a  straight  line  to  a  discovery  he  had  made  or 
bought  from  some  prospector.  In  order  to  get  the 
proper  grade  for  pack  animals  it  was  necessary  to 
zig-zag  with  turns,  making  the  distance  about 
three  miles.  He  blazed  the  way  and  we  followed 
with  pick  and  shovel.  It  took  five  days,  the  balance 
of  the  week,  to  reach  the  objective  point.  Making 
this  trail  enabled  me  to  gradually  ascend  higher 
points  and  at  the  same  time  get  pay  for  it. 

In  this  connection  I  might  say  that  though 
Georgetown  is  9,000  feet  above  the  sea  yet  the 
mountains  on  either  side  were  3000  to  4000  feet 
higher,  in  fact  as  high  as  the  "range"  except  the 
highest  peaks.  This  was  my  introduction  as  a  pros- 
pector for  prospecting  was  my  intended  business. 
When  we  completed  the  trail  our  employer  showed 
us  his  so-called  mine.  There  was  no  mineral  in  sight 
nor  anything  else  except  rock  as  far  as  I  could 
see,  yet  he  was  confident  a  good  vein  of  ore  was 
down  below,  no  telling  how  far.  It  was  only  a 
short  distance  to  a  mine  called  "Summit",  very  rich 
in  silver  though  the  quantity  was  too  small  to  be 
profitable  to  work  it. 

Some  one  had  worked  a  little  on  the  claim  and 
sold  out  to  this  man,  and  he  told  us  that  pack  ani- 
mals would  bring  up  mining  tools  and  supplies,  and 
that  we  might  be  ready  Monday  morning  to  com- 
mence sinking  a  shaft.  We  made  an  honest  con- 
fession to  him  that  neither  of  us  knew  a  thing 
in  the  world  about  mining,  as  for  my  own  part  I 
had  never  seen  a  drill  or  a  piece  of  fuse  in  my  life. 
That  night  he  paid  us  $20.00  each,  just  half  as 
much  as  received  for  the  whole  time  crossing  the 
plains. 

While  walking  around  Sunday  we  found  a  vacant 
cabin  with  a  floor  in  it  which  we  rented  at  $5.00 
per  month.  On  Monday  we  built  a  bunk  and  a 


40  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

table,  also  made  numerous  purchases  necessary  for 
light  housekeeping,  which  in  the  absence  of  a 
female  to  give  directions,  is  called  'batching'.  The 
tinner  made  us  a  sheet-iron  stove  (for  $6.00)  that 
one  man  could  easily  carry  in  his  hand,  but  it  an- 
swered our  purposes  all  the  same.  My  experience 
in  the  army  and  in  prison  had  given  me  some  idea 
of  cooking.  My  partner  had  also  been  a  soldier, 
though  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  "fence,"  and 
knew  more  of  the  culinary  arts  than  I  did.  We 
"snaked"  down  off  the  side  of  the  mountain  that 
evening  enough  dry  pine  poles  to  last  us  three 
months,  so  we  were  prepared  to  live  on  the  cheap- 
est plan  possible,  which  was  less  than  half  of  what 
we  had  been  paying. 

Self-rising  flour  cost  us  $3.00  for  a  twenty-four 
pound  sack  (there  was  no  meal  for  sale)  and  every- 
thing else  in  proportion  except  good  steak  which 
was  only  worth  twenty  cents  per  pound.  Fat  cattle 
were  driven  up  from  the  valley  where  it  cost  very 
little  to  raise  them.  At  that  time  I  did  not  care 
much  about  working  by  the  day  for  \vages,  as  I 
had  on  hand  a  little  over  $600.00  which  was  $100. 
more  than  I  had  when  leaving  Larkinsville.  My 
object  in  this  country  was  to  find  or  in  some  way 
own  a  big  gold  or  silver  mine. 

It  so  happened  next  morning  that  we  fell  in 
company  with  two  miners  getting  ready  to  start 
out  on  the  mountains.  We  explained  to  them  that 
we  would  like  to  find  out  something  of  the  mines 
and  mining  so  they  invited  us  to  go  with  them  and 
see  for  ourselves.  Their  shaft  was  only  six  or  eight 
feet  deep,  and  we  watched  them  strike  and  turn  the 
drill  until  the  hole  was  deep  enough  to  do  the  work 
they  expected  it  to  do.  We  saw  them  put  in  the 
powder  and  then  the  fuse.  The  tamping  was  care- 
fully done  in  order  to  prevent  any  accident.  We 
watched  them  take  out  all  the  loose  rock  with  a 
gad  and  get  ready  for  the  next  shot. 

They  explained  to  us  the  difference  between  a 
pop,  foot,  lifting  and  leading  shot,  and  the  neces- 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  41 

sity  of  understanding  the  nature  of  the  rock,  be- 
cause if  the  powder  was  given  too  much  to  do  it 
would  do  nothing.  They  showed  us  where  to  locate 
the  next  shot,  and  how  to  use  the  starter  and  the 
spoon,  also  in  regard  to  turning  the  drill  just  so 
far,  and  then  they  sat  around  until  we  drilled  the 
hole,  loaded  it  with  powder  and  made  the  explo- 
sion. We  took  dinner  with  them,  and  went  back 
to  work  like  regular  miners.  I  noticed  one  thing, 
that  they  did  not  have  any  mineral  in  sight  nor 
mucn  prospect  of  any. 

This  was  called  "developing"  the  property.  The 
mining  law  required  some  kind  of  a  hole  down  ten 
feet  from  the  surface,  showing  a  mineral  bearing 
vein,  before  a  legal  record  could  be  made.  It  fur- 
ther required  $100.00  in  \vork  on  the  claim  each 
year  or  it  was  subject  to  relocation  by  some  other 
party.  When  $500.00  in  work  had  been  made  and 
proved  by  witness,  the  owner  could  obtain  a  patent 
from  the  government  to  a  strip  of  land  3,000  feet 
long  and  150  feet  wride,  which  was  taxable  like 
any  other  property.  The  wisdom  and  justice  of  the 
law  will  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  it  prevented  old 
abandoned  claims  from  continuing  in  force,  also 
prevented  what  was  called  "wildcat",  claims,  which 
meant  a  record  without  a  genuine  discovery. 

These  mining  laws  are  mentioned  here  because 
it  is  important  for  a  prospector  to  understand 
them,  and  I  was  preparing  myself  for  that  occupa- 
tion. It  seems  Destiny  or  some  other  power  behind 
the  throne  had  already,  without  my  knowledge  or 
consent,  rendered  a  decree  to  that  effect.  In  my 
new  field  of  labor  all  my  former  attainments  in  a 
literary  way  were  to  be  set  aside  as  useless,  or  at 
least  worth  very  little.  I  must  now  learn  to  be  a 
miner  if  I  expected  to  follow  the  business.  This 
explains  the  object  of  our  errand  with  the  two 
miners  up  on  the  mountain,  and  it  was  time  well 
spent. 

After  learning  so  much  in  one  day,  next  morning 
each  one  purchased  a  new  pick  and  shovel,  usually 


42  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

emblems  of  industry,  for  which  we  paid  $16.00  and 
at  once  struck  out  to  roam  over  the  mountains, 
taking  them  by  rotation.  It  was  my  private  opinion 
that  we  could  discover  a  mine  of  some  kind  good, 
bad,  or  between  the  two  extremes.  We  even  went 
out  above  timber  line  ten  or  twelve  thousand  feet 
in  altitude.  From  these  high  elevations  we  could 
see  the  wide-spreading  plains,  and  thought  we 
could  see  the  place  where  we  fought  Indians. 

We  spent  four  days  in  walking  and  looking 
without  wearing  much  of  the  "new"  off  our  picks 
and  shovels.  We  now  agreed  to  go  alone,  each 
one  to  work  for  himself  and  to  do  as  he  pleased. 
My  idea  was  to  move  along  slowly  and  be  careful, 
as  it  is  a  matter  of  digging  more  than  simply 
looking.  Incidentally  I  met  a  man  of  more  mature 
years  than  myself  who  had  been  here  some  time 
and  had  also  been  in  other  mining  sections.  He 
knew  a  great  deal  by  experience  about  prospect- 
ing, and  as  a  rarity  knew  how  to  tell  it.  A  great 
many  people  know  many  things,  and  yet  have  no 
faculty  of  telling  it  so"  as  to  impart  information. 

He  first  told  me  about  "float-stuff,"  which  may 
be  nothing  more  than  a  mineral-bearing  rock,  but 
all  the  same  it  broke  loose  from  somewhere  above 
and  might  prove  to  be  part  of  a  good  mine.  He  had 
several  specimens  in  his  pocket  each  one  different 
from  the  other.  One  in  particular  that  had  specks 
and  streaks  of  mineral  through  it,  he  had  spent 
weeks  digging  and  was  still  trying  to  find  where 
it  came  from,  perhaps  never  did  find  the  place.  He 
said  such  a  thing  as  accidentally  finding  a  mine 
was  a  very  poor  dependance. 

One  little  piece  of  advice  he  ventured  to  give  me 
was :  "If  you  are  ever  lucky  enough  to  find  a  mine 
and  some  one  offers  you  above  $1,000  for  it,  be 
sure  to  sell."  It  was  the  nature  of  nearly  all  mines 
to  have  "pockets",  liable  to  pinch  or  play  out.  In 
his  opinion  not  more  than  one  in  a  hundred  would 
pay  to  work,  and  pay  a  dividend  too.  As  I  was  a 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  43 

new  beginner  this  was  all  valuable  information,  es- 
pecially in  regard  to  prospecting. 

The  next  week  was  spent  with  a  more  definite 
idea  of  what  I  was  doing  and  how  to  do  it.  I  now 
had  more  use  for  my  pick  and  shovel  than  for- 
merly. This  float-stuff,  the  miners  guide,  was 
easily  found,  and  I  spent  two  days  digging  and 
tracing  up  a  piece  of  float,  and  then  some  one  had 
already  made  a  discovery  by  tracing  up  the  piece 
of  float,  and  had  sunk  a  shaft  twenty  feet  deep, 
and  then  gave  it  up.  This  saved  me  a  lot  of  work 
for  I  might  have  done  the  same.  I  continued  to  dig 
a  number  of  holes  at  other  places,  which  like  Lot's 
wife  that  turned  to  a  pillar  of  salt,  are  there  to 
this  day,  also  many  others  of  a  similar  kind  scat- 
tered far  and  wide. 

In  my  rambling  around  I  found  a  dug  out  place 
two  or  three  feet  deep  and  from  appearance  it 
looked  like  a  favorable  prospect.  It  was  the  usual 
custom  of  the  prospector,  if  he  thought  anything 
of  his  discovery,  to  whittle;  a  smooth  place  on  a 
stick,  write  his  name  and  the  date  and  leave  it 
there,  as  the  law  allowed  him  thirty  days  for 
further  improvement.  The  name  on  the  stick  was 
the  same  one  that  had  been  giving  me  advice  and 
information.  I  told  him  about  finding  one  of  his 
discoveries.  He  said:  "Yes,  I  remember  that,  but 
it  is  kind  of  a  rough  place  and  I  have  something 
now  more  important,  so  I  will  make  you  a  present 
of  it,  and  there  may  be  a  good  body  of  mineral 
down  below,  not  a  great  way." 

I  told  my  batching  partner  about  it  and  agreed 
to  give  him  a  half  interest  if  he  would  join  with 
me  in  buying  powder,  fuse  and  other  mining  tools, 
as  it  would  require  shooting  our  way  right  from 
the  beginning,  a  proposition  he  gladly  accepted. 
The  previous  knowledge  we  had  obtained  from  the 
two  miners  enabled  us  to  go  right  along  with  the 
work,  though  not  as  fast  as  men  of  experience  in 
that  line.  As  progress  was  made  in  the  develop- 


44  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

ment  we  were  encouraged  greatly  by  occasional 
specks  of  bright  mineral  in  the  vein  material. 

A  new  stamp  mill  was  building  up  slowly  for 
the  reduction  of  silver  ore,  and  I  had  some  fear 
they  would  not  get  it  ready  in  time  for  my  patron- 
age. It  was  hard  for  us  to  average  more  than  half 
a  foot  per  day,  yet  that  was  going  some.  When  we 
were  down  some  eight  or  nine  feet  we  put  in  a 
leading  shot  one  evening  which  brought  to  light 
bright  shining  mineral  in  pieces  half  as  large  as 
my  head.  I  might  have  been  excited  while  fighting 
the  Indians,  but  this  was  a  different  kind.  We 
carefully  stacked  up  our  mineral  like  a  banker  does 
his  silver  dollars,  taking  with  us  some  of  our  nicest 
pieces  to  show  to  our  friends.  Some  "smart  Alec" 
suggested  that  we  ought  to  have  an  assay  made 
before  climbing  up  too  high,  on  a  hope  that  might 
be  a  failure,  which  of  course  was  the  proper  thing 
to  do. 

I  might  have  slept  some  that  night,  but  if  so  I 
had  no  recollection  of  it  next  morning.  Such  a 
thing  as  sleep  was  very  slightly  on  the  program. 
A  small  piece  of  ore  had  been  left  with  the  assayist, 
though  of  course  it  was  rich  in  our  estimation,  be- 
cause bright  and  beautiful  to  look  at.  Things  of 
that  kind,  like  many  others,  depend  upon  the  eyes 
with  which  one  sees.  He  promised  that  evening  to 
give  us  a  written  report  next  morning  showing  its 
real  value,  at  a  moderate  price  of  $4.00,  worth  not 
more  than  $1.00,  but  I  paid  it. 

When  we  read  the  certificate  of  $14.00  per  ton 
our  peacock  feathers  wilted  down  all  of  a  sudden. 
At  first  we  tried  to  "make-believe"  there  was  some 
mistake,  but  he  offered  to  put  up  a  forfeit  of  $100 
and  stand  by  the  results,  if  we  wished  to  get  some 
other  responsible  assayer  to  make  a  test.  It  was 
folly  on  our  part  to  doubt  his  correctness,  for  his 
reputation  was  at  stake  on  every  test  he  made.  It 
was  like  a  man  trying  to  find  an  easy  way  to  get 
down  from  some  high  pinnacle.  We  had  been 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  45 

riding  a  "high-horse"  and  it  was  now  our  time  to 
get  down  and  walk,  simply  had  it  to  do. 

There  was  a  smelter  here  at  this  time  for  treat- 
ing ore  of  this  character,  but  they  charged  $25.00 
per  ton  for  treatment,  by  merely  melting  the  ore, 
then  eliminating  the  lead  by  de-oxidation.  The 
new  mill  men  told  me  they  would  not  treat  this 
character  of  ore,  as  it  was  too  low  grade,  and 
that  their  price  would  be  not  less  than  $50.00  per 
ton.  All  this  information  was  very  essential  to  a 
person  engaged  in  mining.  This  little  venture  in 
the  mining  industries  of  the  country  had  the  good 
effect  of  wearing  off  the  "wire-edge"  from  our 
"tenderfoot"  qualities  and  put  us  in  line  with  other 
miners. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  on  my  own  part,  I  was 
discouraged  and  even  disappointed,  but  my  feelings 
were  not  of  that  gloomy  character  that  sinks  the 
heart  of  man.  Hope  might  be  a  little  lame  in  one 
wing,  but  still  able  to  hold  its  royal  commission. 
There  were  a  few  rich  mines  in  the  country,  and  I 
was  still  able  to  "pick  my  flint"  again,  and  next 
time  maybe  I  would  be  in  better  luck.  When  I  said 
to  my  partner  that  we  had  better  put  on  record  our 
claim  he  said:  "I  would  not  give  my  part  of  the 
$4.00  recording  fee,  for  the  whole  thing,  so  you  may 
have  it";  and  besides  that,  he  said:  "I  am  out  of 
money,  haven't  a  dollar  on  earth,  and  must  find 
some  one  that  has,  and  will  give  me  work  to  do." 

During  the  month  of  October  in  Colorado  there 
are  a  few  weeks  of  the  finest  weather  in  the  world. 
The  first  snow  fails  to  attract  much  attention  as 
it  remains  only  a  short  time  on  the  ground.  With 
the  blue  sky  above  us  indicating  no  near  approach 
of  winter  we  were  walking  down  the  street  when 
we  met  a  man  who  proposed  to  give  us  a  contract 
of  $200.00  to  sink  a  shaft  twenty  feet  deeper  on 
his  mine,  that  was  already  ten  feet  deep.  We 
started  at  once  with  him  to  see  his  property.  We 
went  with  him  up  the  main  branch  of  the  creek 
seven  or  eight  miles  to  a  saw  mill  near  the  foot 


46  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

of  the  range.  Turning  to  the  left  we  followed  him 
up  the  mountain  fully  a  mile  to  a  point  above  tim- 
ber line.  It  was  not  hard  rock  like  we  were  used 
to  working  for  the  last  month,  and  in  our  opinion 
we  could  finish  the  work  inside  of  four  weeks. 

He  was  to  bear  all  expenses  of  every  character, 
and  take  it  out  of  the  amount  he  was  to  pay  when 
the  work  was  completed.  Next  day  he  went  with 
us  in  order  to  drive  back  the  pack  animals  that 
carried  the  supplies,  rope  and  bucket,  also  other 
things  necessary  to  finish  the  work.  We  were 
then  at  least  12,000  feet  in  altitude,  and  in  fair 
view  of  Erwin's  peak  some  two  or  three  miles 
distant.  The  peak  ought  to  have  been  called  by 
that  name  down  to  the  present,  as  he  was  the  first 
one  on  its  top,  made  a  measurement  of  its  height 
and  gave  a  written  account  of  the  fact.  This  en- 
titled him  to  the  name. 

Later,  however,  a  touring  party  visited  the  peak, 
and  a  professor,  from  some  Eastern  college,  named 
Gray  made  a  barometic  measure  of  its  altitude, 
also  by  noting  the  difference  in  temperature  of 
boiling  water,  which  is  conceded  to  be  even  more 
accurate.  In  giving  an  account  of  his  trip  and 
measurement  it  showed  the  peak  to  be  fifty  feet 
higher  than  Pike's  Peak.  His  article  was  published 
in  the  Eastern  and  Colorado  papers,  and  in  this 
way  the  name  was  changed.  I  happened  to  see 
the  members  of  the  touring  party  at  the  time. 

But  I  will  "switch"  back  onto  our  contract  as  a 
matter  of  far  more  importance.  Some  snow  was 
falling  but  the  wind  blew  it  into  lower  places.  We 
had  built  a  neat  strong  "bough-house"  in  a  tongue 
of  timber  that  extended  a  little  higher  up  the  moun- 
tain than  timber  line  generally.  After  nearly  two 
weeks  our  "grub"  was  getting  low  and  we  con- 
cluded to  measure  up  our  work  and  go  down  for 
further  supplies  next  day.  We  only  lacked  nine 
feet  of  finishing  our  contract.  Early  that  night  it 
commenced  snowing  sure  enough  in  a  regular 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  47 

storming  fashion,  and  by  daylight  next  day  it  was 
three  or  four  feet  deep  and  still  coming. 

Our  little  "den"  was  comfortable  enough  as  it 
was  covered  with  three  or  four  feet  of  snow,  but 
we  were  out  of  provisions,  besides  that  there  was 
no  abatement  in  the  storm,  nor  liable  to  be  in  the 
next  three  or  four  days,  and  the  snow  getting 
deeper  all  the  time.  We  rolled  up  our  blankets 
and  tied  them  around  us  in  regular  soldier  style. 
Realizing  the  danger  of  becoming  snow  bound, 
each  one  with  a  pole  eight  or  ten  feet  long  to  be 
used  in  feeling  our  way,  we  began  the  descent  to 
a  lower  level.  At  first  we  could  scarcely  see  ten 
feet  ahead  of  us,  but  knew  by  going  down  we 
could  reach  the  creek  below. 

Neither  of  us  had  ever  been  in  a  mountain 
storm  before,  though  we  had  heard  something  of  its 
terror.  The  snow  in  the  canyon  below  was  fully 
four  feet  deep  and  still  accumulating.  We  con- 
tinued to  take  it  "time  about"  in  the  front.  It  was 
nearly  night  when  we  reached  our  cabin,  and  both 
of  us  were  just  about  played  out,  and  as  we  had 
nothing  to  eat  that  day  we  were  hungry  as  well 
as  tired.  In  a  few  days  we  saw  our  employer, 
thinking  he  would  pay  us  part  as  the  work  was 
over  half  completed,  but  he  held  close  to  the  con- 
tract that  payment  was  to  be  made  when  the  work 
was  finished.  He  suggested  we  might  take  our 
time  and  finish  next  summer.  It  was  usual  to  pay 
a  third  when  half  the  work  was  completed. 

My  partner,  for  reasons  already  assigned,  was 
anxious  to  obtain  work,  and  he  went  to  see  two 
men,  one  named  Crow  and  the  other  Clark,  who 
jointly  owned  the  "Terrible"  mine,  one  of  the  best 
that  had  been  discovered  in  the  whole  country  up 
to  that  time.  I  was  anxious  to  see  and  work  on  a 
rich  paying  mine,  so  with  a  view  of  learning  some- 
thing, when  he  returned  and  said  they  would  give 
us  $3.00  per  day  and  board  I  concluded  to  try  it 
awhile.  There  were  only  two  men  working  on  the 
day  shift,  and  they  wanted  us  to  work  during  the 


48  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

night.  Under  the  ground  and  beyond  daylight  it 
makes  little  difference,  when  one  gets  used  to 
sleeping  in  the  day  time. 

Neither  of  us  were  first  class  miners,  not  even 
second  class,  and  it  was  a  dangerous  piece  of  busi- 
ness in  a  mine  of  this  character.  The  shaft  was 
down  seventy-five  feet  and  from  the  bottom  of 
this  shaft  they  had  drifted  on  the  vein  thirty  feet 
or  more.  There  was  a  ladder  down  one  end  of  the 
shaft.  In  putting  off  a  shot  the  end  of  the  fuse  is 
bent  over,  and  near  the  end  a  small  piece  of  burn- 
ing candle  is  placed,  and  the  shot  will  explode  in 
about  one  and  a  half  minutes ;  this  gives  a  man 
time  to  ascend  the  ladder  far  enough  to  be  out  of 
the  way. 

The  ore  vein  was  twelve  inches  thick  and  the  mill 
run  averaged  $700.00  per  ton,  giving  it  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  first-class  mine.  The  rock  between  the 
vein  and  foot  wall  is  called  the  matrix  of  the  mine, 
and  in  this  instance  was  about  five  feet  wide,  and 
is  generally  easier  to  drill  than  the  adjacent  gran- 
ite. In  this  mine,  however,  it  was  both  hard  to 
drill  and  refractory  in  its  nature. 

We  were  at  the  place  ready  for  work,  before  time 
for  the  day  shift  to  quit.  Our  object  was  to 
learn  from  them  how  they  managed.  We  worked 
hard,  made  a  good  showing  and  our  employers 
were  well  pleased.  The  plan  adopted  was  to 
excavate  along  the  side  of  the  vein  four  or  five 
feet  and  then  put  in  a  few  pop  shots  behind  the 
ore,  first  spreading  a  heavy  cloth  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  drift.  Crow  and  Clark  wanted  to  be 
present  when  this  was  done.  Of  course  this  took 
place  in  our  absence,  and  ruled  me  out  of  the  ore 
handling  business. 

On  the  fourth  night  an  incident  took  place  that 
makes  me  almost  shudder  to  think  about,  though 
we  failed  to  see  the  danger  at  the  time.  There 
was  a  kind  of  a  bench,  right  in  the  head  of  the 
drift,  and  an  extra  nice  place  to  locate  a  good 
two  foot  shot.  We  drilled  the  hole,  loaded  and 
made  our  escape  in  the  usual  way  all  right,  but 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  49 

no  explosion.  Of  course  there  was  something 
wrong,  either  a  defective  fuse,  or  we  had  cut  it 
with  the  tamping  rod.  One  end  of  the  spoon  was 
sharp  on  purpose  for  picking  out  a  missfire,  but 
we  had  tamped  the  hole  so  hard  that  the  pick  was 
of  no  service,  so  we  had  to  drill  that  one  over  or 
drill  another,  and  we  decided  the  latter  less  dan- 
gerous and  drilled  another,  one  inch  from  the  one 
that  failed. 

When  the  last  shot  was  exploded  a  print  of  two 
holes  was  left  lacking  about  half  an  inch  of  being 
parallel  with  each  other.  The  Indian  lacked  two 
inches  of  hitting  my  head,  but  this  was  only  half  an 
inch.  If  the  point  of  the  drill  had  struck  the  powder 
no  doubt  our  mining  career  would  have  been  termi- 
nated very  quickly.  The  rock  was  so  hard  that  the 
one  holding  the  starter  had  to  bat  his  eyes  when 
it  was  struck  in  order  to  keep  the  sparks  out.  I 
mention  this  fact  to  show  the  danger  of  drilling 
the  second  hole. 

We  next  put  in  a  good  long  roof  shot  which  did 
lots  of  work  and  made  a  big  pile  of  rock  for  one 
shift.  A  shot  of  this  character  has  to  point  upward 
just  a  little  in  order  to  keep  the  roof  in  good  shape. 
Of  all  the  work  in  the  world  that  has  ever  fallen 
to  my  lot,  this  is  just  about  the  most  tiresome. 
Holding  one's  arms  over  the  head  and  turning  a  drill 
smooth  and  regular  so  as  to  keep  the  hole  true  is 
no  easy  job,  nor  is  striking  the  drill  any  less  like 
work.  To  load  a  shot  of  this  kind  it  is  necessary  to 
fold  a  piece  of  heavy  paper  on  a  stick  the  right  size, 
and  then  paste  the  folded  places  with  a  certain  kind 
of  soap.  By  slipping  this  off  the  stick  and  rilling  it 
with  powder,  the  fuse  being  inserted,  the  cartridge, 
by  folding  the  top,  is  ready  for  use. 

The  last  night  of  the  six  I  worked  there,  we  had 
instructions  .to  commence  a  back-stope,  which 
means  to  take  out  all  the  rock  for  six  or  eight 
feet  above  the  drift.  We  knew  absolutely  noth- 
ing about  that  kind  of  work,  but  neither  of  us 
would  admit  our  ignorance.  The  stull  timber  of  the 
right  length  and  size  was  in  the  bottom  of  the 


50  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

shaft,  ready  to  be  used  in  making  a  platform  to 
stand  on  while  putting  in  the  shot.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  cut  hitches  three  inches  deep  in  both  the 
foot  and  hanging  wall,  and  each  one  used  a  small 
hammer  and  moil  for  that  purpose.  We  cut  the 
hitches  deeper  than  necessary  and  it  was  2  o'clock 
before  getting  ready  to  put  in  the  first  shot.  Expert 
miners  would  perhaps  have  been  ready  in  less  than 
two  hours.  It  took  us  the  balance  of  the  shift  to 
put  in  one  shot,  but  it  did  more  work  than  two  days 
in  the  drift. 

Mr.  Clark  was  more  agreeable  to  talk  with  than 
his  partner.  I  explained  to  him  that  it  might  be  to 
his  interest  to  employ  a  more  skillful  miner  to  take 
my  place,  but  still  retain  my  partner.  This  arrange- 
ment was  satisfactory,  and  I  was  glad  enough  to 
find  myself  safely  back  in  the  cabin.  The  truth  of 
the  matter  was  I  still  had  over  $500.00  in  money 
and  did  not  care  to  jeopardize  my  life  for  a  few 
dollars.  I  had  let  a  banker  have  all  my  gold  at 
a  premium  of  15  per  cent  which  was  added  to  my 
bank  account,  so  I  felt  safe  in  that  respect. 

As  the  "Terrible"  was  the  best  mine  in  all  the 
country  at  that  time  I  was  anxious  to  learn  some- 
thing of  its  history.  In  talking  with  Mr.  Clark  he 
said  they  had  paid  $4,000.00  to  four  prospectors 
when  it  was  twenty-five  feet  deep,  and  that  the  mi- 
neral vein  was  about  one  inch  thick  at  the  time ; 
that  the  prospectors,  had  not  tried  to  save  any 
of  the  mineral,  in  fact  it  was  twenty  feet  deep 
before  they  found  any.  Clark  and  Crow  let  a  con- 
tract of  fifty  feet  to  Cornish  miners  at  $20.00  per 
foot,  binding  them  to  save  the  mineral,  which  was 
an  easy  thing  to  do  when  men  knew  how. 

At  the  depth  of  fifty  feet  the  vein  was  six  inches 
thick  and  at  seventy-five  feet,  twelve  inches  thick. 
The  products  of  the  ore  paid  for  the  work,  and 
besides  paid  back  nearly  all  the  purchase  money. 
And  further,  he  said  that  he  and  his  partner  had 
been  teamsters  from  Georgetown  and  Central  City 
to  Denver  for  several  years,  making  about  $6.00 
each  per  day  above  expenses.  They  always  went 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  51 

together  for  mutual  protection  and  assistance.  This 
mining  venture  of  theirs  shows  what  the  crazy 
thing  called  "luck"  will  do  for  some,  while  it  ig- 
nores the  efforts  of  others,  yet  it  was  an  inspiration 
to  continue  and  perhaps  some  day  I  might  own  a 
mine  like  this,  though  I  would  prefer  the  rock  a 
little  softer. 

In  this  talk  with  Mr.  Clark  he  told  me  they  were 
now  selecting  ten  tons  of  mineral  to  be  shipped 
across  the  ocean  to  Sawana,  England,  to  be  treated 
there,  and  a  good  sale  of  the  east  end  of  the  mine 
was  contingent  upon  the  "mill  run"  yielding  $700.00 
per  ton.  He  did  not  mention  the  price  to  be  paid, 
but  I  learned  later  that  they  received  from  a  Brit- 
ish syndicate  $500,000.00  in  gold.  It  required  a 
$3,000.00  revenue  stamp  placed  on  the  deed.  This 
syndicate  put  in  an  aerial  tramway  up  to  the  mine 
with  crane-like  buckets  bringing  the  ore  down  to 
their  mill  on  a  wire  rope.  Whether  it  was  a  pay- 
ing investment  or  not,  no  one  ever  knew.  It  was 
always  a  strange  thing  to  me  that  no  one  ever 
worked  the  west  end  of  the  mine.  Of  course  there 
was  some  good  reason  for  this. 

Some  one  in  writing  a  book,  put  it  down  that 
an  idle  mind  was  the  devil's  work  shop,  and  there 
is  more  truth  than  poetry  in  the  proposition.  As 
the  hands  obey  the  dictates  of  the  mind  they  are 
liable  to  find  mischief  and  then  comes  trouble.  I 
never  was  able  to  sit  around  and  do  nothing,  unless 
reading  a  book  may  be  rated  under  that  head.  I 
found  a  cabin  that  suited  me  much  better  than  the 
one  I  was  occupying,  and  finding  the  owner  I  pro- 
posed renting.  He  said,  "Let  me  sell  it  to  you." 
As  I  no  longer  had  any  particular  use  for  my  gold 
watch  I  made  him  an  offer  to  swap  even.  After 
looking  at  it  a  few  minutes  he  remarked:  "Young 
man,  I  guess  you  have  bought  a  cabin." 

It  was  located  on  the  hillside  between  two  large 
jutting  rocks,  a  rather  ideal  place  for  a  man  to  be 
alone  in  the  big  wide  world.  It  had  two  glass  win- 
dows and  a  little  porch  in  front  facing  the  city 


52  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

below.  There  was  a  nice  table  and  two  bunks  made 
of  dressed  lumber.  I  bought  a  bale  of  hay,  made  a 
mattress  and  was  prepared  to  board  at  home.  I  put 
a  good  lot  of  stove  wood  in  one  corner  of  the 
cabin,  and  soon  had  everything  to  the  "queen's 
taste"  or  rather  to  the  king's  taste,  for  I  was 
monarch  of  all  I  surveyed  when  the  door  was 
closed.  This  deal  stopped  paying  rent,  and  in  every 
way  suited  my  purpose. 

I  was  now  prepared  to  take  the  world  easy,  but 
the  very  thought  of  tramping  my  way  through 
the  world  as  a  pauper  or  nearly  so,  disturbed  my 
peace  of  mind.  I  had,  in  a  manner  lost  my  former 
aspirations  for  a  higher  education,  and  the  one 
absorbing  thought  was  how  to  own  a  good  pay- 
ing mine.  No  lingering  doubt  in  my  mind  that  such 
a  thing  was  here  in  the  country  for  me,  if  I  only 
knew  how  to  find  or  get  hold  of  it. 

Several  important  discoveries  had  been  made 
since  I  reached  Georgetown  that  were  yielding 
valuable  ore,  enough  to  keep  the  new  stamp  mill 
in  operation  day  and  night.  Among  these  mines 
was  one  called  "Equator"  both  rich  and  prolific  in 
mineral.  This  mine  was  really  discovered  by  an 
old  negro  named  Bowman,  sent  out  by  lead  miners 
from  Missouri.  He  had  made  several  excavations 
in  a  kind  of  soil  that  looked  like  an  old  ash  bank, 
but  had  not  found  the  vein. 

An  old  prospector  passing  along  asked  him  what 
he  was  doing;  "Well,  boss,  there  is  a  big  mine 
here  and  I's  trying  to  find  where  he  goes  down  in 
the  ground  but  it  is  hard  to  do.  May  be  some  of 
you  white  men  could  find  it."  The  white  man  went 
forty  or  fifty  yards  further  along  where  the  ground 
was  a  little  higher  and  after  digging  a  few  minutes 
found  a  piece  of  ore,  continuing  to  dig  found  more, 
in  fact  was  on  the  vein.  By  law  he  had  a  priority 
right,  but  according  to  a  strict  justice  the  old  negro 
was  entitled  to  part  of  it. 

This  old  prospector  named  McFarland  was  the 
same  man  who  had  given  me  so  many  mining  dots 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  S3 

formerly  mentioned,  also  gave  me  one  of  his  dis- 
coveries that  proved  to  have  low  grade  mineral. 
He  had  a  good  vein  of  mineral  when  down  ten  feet, 
but  he  was  afraid  to  risk  its  holding  out.  Two  capi- 
talists happened  to  hear  of  the  mine  and  offered 
him  $5,000.00,  and  the  mistake  of  his  life  was  in 
accepting  the  offer.  He  started  back  to  the  States 
and  got  as  far  as  Denver  where  he  entered  a  gam- 
bling den  and  lost  all  his  money  except  $100.00. 
In  two  weeks'  time  he  was  back  in  Georgetown. 
After  a  short  time  I  lost  sight  of  him  and  never 
learned  where  he  went. 

Returning  to  my  cabin  home,  to  take  up  the 
thread  of  my  narrative,  I  will  mention  that  it  was 
now  the  middle  part  of  the  winter.  It  generally 
stormed  one  or  two  days  and  then  high  winds 
drifted  the  snow  and  packed  it  into  low  places. 
While  the  temperature  was  often  only  a  few 
degrees  above  zero,  yet  it  was  not  the  same  kind 
of  cold  as  back  in  the  States.  The  air  seemed  to 
be  dry  as  well  as  pure,  and  in  the  absence  of  mois- 
ture it  lacked  that  penetrating  quality  I  had  been 
used  to  in  a  southern  climate. 

Incidentally  I  met  an  old  time  prospector,  a  re- 
gular 59er,  by  the  name  of  David  Hirsha.  At  first 
he  engaged  in  gulch  mining  and  made  some  money 
but  had  about  run  through  with  it.  He  had  made 
several  discoveries  but  none  of  them  were  deve- 
loped; of  course  their  value  was  uncertain.  Like 
nearly  all  prospectors,  he  was  very  hopeful  of 
their  final  outcome.  As  one  of  them  was  only  a 
little  over  a  mile  distant,  and  about  two  hundred 
yards  off  the  road  leading  to  the  Terrible  mine, 
I  concluded  to  go  with  him  and  look  at  it. 

To  my  surprise  there  was  a  well  defined  vein 
though  no  mineral,  yet  I  thought  favorably  of  its 
appearance.  His  proposition  was  to  sell  for  $500.00, 
but  I  soon  convinced  him  that  he  had  nothing  to 
sell  in  the  first  place,  and  besides  that  I  was  a 
prospector  myself  and  not  a  capitalist.  If  you 
think  this  hole  in  the  ground  is  a  good  mine  I  will 


54  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

make  you  a  proposition  that  will  test  your  faith. 
I  am  willing  to  risk  my  labor  if  you  are  yours.  If 
it  proves  worthless,  in  my  estimation,  I  will  quit 
any  time  and  lose  my  labor,  and  you  will  know  a 
little  more  about  the  value  of  your  claim.  If  the 
mine  improves  to  my  satisfaction  I  am  to  have  the 
privilege  of  paying  you  $100.00  and  we  will  be 
joint  owners. 

He  accepted  my  proposition  and  went  to  work  at 
once.  As  we  were  near  the  surface,  we  could  work 
only  as  the  weather  would  permit.  In  about  three 
weeks  we  were  down  ten  or  eleven  feet  and  the 
vein  had  widened  out  to  four  or  five  inches  with 
some  mineral  in  it  at  places.  I  paid  him  the  $100.00 
and  placed  it  on  record  under  the  name  of  "King 
David."  One  month  later  we  were  down  twenty 
feet  with  a  decided  improvement  in  the  ore  vein, 
and  that  was  the  main  thing.  It  was  something  like 
a  quarter  mineral  and  the  balance  rock.  On  going 
deeper  we  were  hoping  and  expecting  the  vein 
would  be  thicker  and  solid  ore.  The  mineral  as- 
sayed $485.00  per  ton,  which  would  be  good  enough 
if  solid. 

We  had  improvised  a  way  of  getting  out  of  the 
shaft  by  driving  small  pieces  of  timber  from  one 
side  of  the  shaft  to  the  other  at  one  end.  As  I  held 
the  drill  it  was  my  busines  to  locate,  load  and  ex- 
plode the  shots.  The  device  for  escaping  from  the 
shaft  seemed  to  be  safe  enough.  Putting  the  pieces 
of  candle  under  the  fuse  I  caught  hold,  as  usual, 
of  the  first  piece  of  timber,  expecting  to  reach  the 
next  one,  but  it  gave  way  and  I  fell  back  in  the 
shaft.  Somewhat  stunned,  I  seized  hold  of  the 
burning  fuse,  and  with  great  effort  twisted  it  off, 
though  my  hand  was  burned  in  doing  so. 

In  five  or  ten  seconds  more  the  fine  powder  in- 
side the  fuse  would  have  caught  and  then  my 
mining  career  would  have  been  over,  or  at  least 
a  thousand  chances  to  one  against  me.  My  leg 
and  face  was  considerably  bruised  and  we  had  to 
stop  work  for  a  week  to  give  my  hand  time  to  get 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  55 

well.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  ignorance  but  one  of 
pure  neglect,  for  I  knew  very  well  how  to  construct 
a  ladder  down  a  rock  shaft,  as  I  had  carefully  no- 
ticed the  one  in  the  Terrible  mine  made  by  cutting 
hitches  on  each  side  at  the  end  of  the  shaft  and 
putting  in  6x4  stull  timber,  and  fastening  to  them 
2x4  scantling,  with  iron  rungs. 

It  required  two  or  three  days  to  put  in  a  sub- 
stantial ladder  way,  and  I  felt  safe  in  getting  out 
of  the  way  of  danger.  When  we  reached  the  depth 
of  twenty-five  feet  the  ore  vein  was  still  improv- 
ing and  we  were  saving  every  pound.  Some  pieces 
would  weigh  twenty  or  thirty  pounds,  but  it  seems 
something  was  bound  to  happen.  The  old  man  (he 
was  past  fifty  years  of  age)  was  welting  the  drill 
with  a  hefty  lick  when  the  hammer  struck  the  drill 
head  a  glancing  lick  and  hit  my  hand.  It  felt  like 
every  bone  was  crushed,  and  my  hand  was  bleeding 
at  several  places.  The  doctor  dressed  the  wound, 
said  none  of  the  bones  were  broken,  but  I  had  to 
put  my  hand  in  a  sling.  It  seemed  to  hurt  the  old 
man  nearly  as  bad  as  it  did  me. 

Spring  of  the  year  had  arrived  which  brought 
much  nicer  weather.  For  obvious  reasons  I  was 
not  doing  my  own  cooking,  but  taking  my  meals 
at  a  restaurant.  This  forced  leisure  gave  me  time 
from  my  own  little  affairs,  to  pay  more  attention 
to  passing  events.  One  thing  that  impressed  me 
was  the  increased  number  of  people  on  the  streets 
especially  after  night.  Some  eight  or  ten  new  busi- 
ness houses  had  been  put  up  and  occupied  since 
my  arrival,  less  than  a  year  previous,  and  perhaps 
thirty  dwelling  houses  of  a  much  better  type  were 
built  and  occupied,  nor  was  this  all. 

A  newspaper  was  published,  called  the  George- 
town Miner,  a  Methodist  church  was  going  up, 
two  new  hotels  were  doing  business,  .a  large  bil- 
liard hall  was  in  operation  and  liberally  patronized, 
also  six  or  eight  saloons  were  not  neglected.  Gam- 
bling dens  could  be  found  by  parties  looking  for 
them.  The  town  was  yet  in  its  infancy  and  very  little 


56  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

regard  paid  to  law  and  order.  Shooting  and  killing 
scrapes  were  quite  common  and  it  was  a  usual  ex- 
pression, "another  man  for  breakfast  this  morn- 
ing." 

Something  like  five  miles  below  Georgetown 
and  one  mile  up  from  where  the  creek  forks,  there 
had  been  a  thriving  village  of  three  or  four  thou- 
sand inhabitants  engaged  in  placer  mining.  The 
houses  there  were  pulled  down  and  brought  by 
wagons  to  help  build  up  Georgetown,  in  fact  my 
own  cabin  was  one  of  these  houses.  I  met  a  man 
named  Martin  who  told  me  all  about  Empire  City 
as  it  was  called.  He  was  there  during  its  flush 
times. 

Four  of  them,  he  said,  took  out  $200,000  in  six 
months,  but  it  came  easy  and  went  easy,  all  they 
cared  for  was  to  have  a  good  time.  There  were 
theatres,  dance-houses  and  all  kind  of  dissipation 
and  depravity  by  both  men  and  women.  This  was 
in  1862-3,  during  the  war.  As  their  claims  played 
out  they  left  the  city  like  rats  deserting  a  sinking 
ship.  Part  of  this  element  was  now  infesting 
Georgetown.  But  the  better  class  were  in  the  ma- 
jority and  decided  to  protect  their  lives  and  pro- 
perty. They  organized  a  vigilance  committee  and 
at  least  one  man  was  hung  for  highway  robbery. 
A  mayor  of  the  city  and  a  police  force  brought  con- 
ditions in  line  with  civilization. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  I  might  do  something 
while  waiting  for  my  hand  to  get  well,  and  no- 
ticing a  number  of  children  on  the  streets  occa- 
sionally, I  went  to  see  their  parents  in  regard  to 
opening  a  school,  and  found  may  of  them  very 
much  in  favor  of  it.  A  merchant,  in  building  his 
store,  had  prepared  the  upper  story  as  a  hall  for 
public  meetings,  which  was  used  at  night  for  occa- 
sions of  that  kind.  I  rented  the  hall  at  $10.00  per 
month,  put  an  advertisement  in  the  paper,  giving 
the  time  of  opening  and  price  per  month. 

The  school  was  much  better  patronized  than  I 
anticipated.  Being  the  first  school  taught  in  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  57 

city  it  naturally  had  a  good  moral  effect  upon  so- 
ciety and  gave  the  people  assurance  they  were 
living  in  a  part  of  God's  country.  In  speaking  of 
the  States  they  were  frequently  referred  to  as 
"back  in  God's  country."  I  cleared  above  expense 
about  $60.00  per  month.  I  took  my  meals  at  one 
of  the  hotels  that  was  patronizing  the  school  to 
the  amount  of  my  bill.  In  leisure  time,  of  an  eve- 
ning and  on  Saturday,  I  got  acquainted  with  the 
best  class  of  people,  which  of  itself  is  worth  a 
great  deal. 

I  formed  the  acquaintance  of  two  gentlemen 
willing  to  make  a  small  investment  in  undeveloped 
property  if  the  location  and  outlook  for  mineral 
resources  met  their  judgment.  It  is  easy  enough 
for  a  prospector  to  boast  about  his  mining  pro- 
perty ;  in  his  estimation  he  has  the  world  and  the 
"fullness  thereof"  but  it  requires  a  "show  down" 
to  convince  the  other  fellow.  In  due  time  we 
reached  the  place  and  they  were  pleased  with 
the  location.  The  stacked-up  ore  did  not  look  as 
nice  as  when  it  was  fresh,  but  I  broke  some  of  the 
largest  pieces  in  order  to  make  the  best  impression 
possible. 

We  went  down  in  the  shaft  and  found  the  drill 
in  the  hole  where  it  had  been  left.  They  took  some 
of  the  mineral  from  the  vein  and  then  we  went 
back  to  town.  The  next  day  they  asked  me  to 
make  them  a  reasonable  price  that  I  was  willing 
to  take  and  make  them  a  deed.  I  told  them  only 
half  belonged  to  me,  and  for  them  to  make  their 
best  offer  and  I  would  submit  it  to  my  partner. 
After  considerable  talk  they  agreed  to  pay  us 
$10,000.  in  cash  for  the  mine  just  as  it  was  and 
take  the  chances. 

The  next  move  now  belonged  to  me.  I  studied  the 
matter  over  carefully  and  deliberately.  I  knew 
how  McFarland  had  in  a  foolish  way  disposed  of 
the  Equator  easily  worth  a  million  dollars,  and 
how  the  four  prospectors  had  let  the  Terrible  slip 
from  them,  still  I  was  impressed  with  the  uncer- 


58  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

tainty  of  mining  ventures.  I  could  now  reach  Lar- 
kinsville  with  nearly  $5,000  more  than  when  I  left 
there  one  and  a  half  years  before,  and  have  some- 
thing to  talk  and  think  about  all  the  balance  of 
my  life,  so  I  decided  to  make  the  deal  if  my  part- 
ner was  willing.  That  night  I  tried  my  best  to 
dream  about  it. 

I  knew  Hersha  was  riding  a  mighty  high  horse 
in  his  estimation  of  the  mine,  and  it  would  require 
caution  not  to  get  him  excited.  I  commenced  by 
saying  a  few  thousand  dollars  would  enable  him 
to  develop  his  other  discoveries,  but  he  was  in- 
different and  had  very  little  to  say.  When  I  men- 
tioned to  him  that  we  could  get  $5,000.  each  in  cash 
for  the  "King  David"  he  spoke  out  with  emphasis 
and  said:  ''No  sir,  I  would  not  take  a  cent  less 
than  $50,000  for  my  half  interest.  The  mine  is 
worth  in  my  opinion  more  than  that,  but  I  could 
make  out  with  this  much  right  well  the  balance  of 
my  life.  I  have  been  here  now  nine  years  wearing 
my  life  away,  and  this  is  the  first  and  best  chance." 

There  was  no  use  in  arguing  the  question  with 
the  old  man  for  he  was  "sot"  in  his  notions,  and 
besides  he  might  be  right.  It  was  simply  a  matter 
of  whether  the  vein  would  increase  and  become 
solid  mineral,  or  diminish  and  finally  peter  out.  No 
one  could  tell  what  might  be  the  results.  I  told  the 
parties  the  decision  of  my  partner,  and  we  let  the 
matter  drop. 

In  two  months  time  my  hand  was  well  enough 
to  resume  work.  It  seems  strange  I  did  not  hire  a 
man  to  take  my  place,  for  teaching  school  was  cer- 
tainly much  easier  than  mining,  and  I  was  making 
nearly  enough  to  pay  a  good  miner;  instead  of 
that  I  quit  the  school,  donned  my  overalls  and  went 
back  in  the  mine.  My  partner  had  been  working 
at  another  place,  but  was  anxious  to  get  back  and 
come  in  possession  of  his  own,  just  a  little  further 
down.  He  was  a  stalwart  brawny  man,  as  tough  as 
a  pine  knot  and  as  strong  as  an  ox.  He  struck  the 
drill  all  the  time,  and  used  the  windlass  in  pulling 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  59 

all  the  rock  out  of  the  shaft,  but  he  never  com- 
plained of  doing  more  than  his  part. 

The  first  three  or  four  feet,  the  mineral  in  the 
vein  increased  and  in  places  was  nearly  a  foot  wide. 
I  began  to  think  the  old  man  was  right  in  his  de- 
cision. It  is  said  that  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the 
human  breast,  but  I  always  found  it  more  lively 
with  a  little  encouragement.  It  began  to  look  like 
fortune  was  staring  us  in  the  face  and  daring  us 
to  take  hold,  but  the  elusive  phantom  evaded  our 
touch  and  slipped  away. 

When  we  reached  the  depth  of  thirty-five  feet 
the  mineral  had  played  out  and  the  vein  had 
pinched  down  to  three  or  four  inches.  Our  $5,000. 
each,  had  "vamoosed  the  ranch"  as  the  Mexican 
greaser  says  when  anything  disappears.  But  Hersha 
had  the  true  "grit"  of  a  prospector.  He  was  cast 
down  and  disappointed,  but  still  buoyant  with 
hope.  He  contended  it  was  the  nature  of  all  mines 
to  have  lean  places.  Because  the  rock  was  getting 
harder  it  was  evidence  to  him  that  it  had  to  be  that 
way  in  order  to  hold  solid  mineral.  Ten  feet  further 
our  mine  would  be  in  again  and  bigger  than  ever. 

As  the  finances  of  Hersha  were  running  a  little 
low,  and  my  own  bank  account  in  a  dwindling 
shape,  he  suggested  that  we  go  over  our  pile  of 
mineral  and  chip  out  as  much  rock  as  possible  and 
carry  the  best  ore  to  the  mill  for  treatment.  We 
borrowed  forty  ore  sacks  which  were  filled  and  car- 
ried down  to  the  road  on  our  shoulders  and  we 
paid  a  passing  teamster  a  dollar  to  deliver  them  at 
the  mill.  There  were  just  two  tons,  which  netted 
us  $105.00  each  after  paying  all  expense.  This  was 
adding,  by  the  way,  that  much  to  the  wealth  of  the 
country. 

The  ringing  sound  of  the  hammer  might  be  heard 
day  after  day  without  the  loss  of  time.  As  the 
weather  was  fine  we  put  in  ten  hours  work  like 
working  for  wages.  Things  were  a  great  deal 
cheaper,  both  living  and  mining  supplies,  than 
they  were  a  year  previous.  Perhaps  this  was  due 


60  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

to  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad 
across  the  "Great  American  Desert."  Still  mining 
was  expensive,  and  when  seven  weeks  put  us  down 
fifty  feet  my  partner  was  willing  to  quit  as  he  was 
again  out  of  means.  In  fact  he  was  discouraged, 
as  well  as  I  had  been  for  some  time  past,  though 
I  wanted  him  to  say  "enough." 

We  had  not  been  able  to  find  any  mineral  for  the 
last  fifteen  feet,  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  all 
mines  have  lean  places.  In  one  notable  instance  the 
Bob  Tail  near  Central  City,  after  yielding  nearly  a 
million  dollars  pinched  out  and  the  owners  ceased  to 
do  any  further  work.  One  of  the  men,  an  Irishman 
by  the  name  of  Pat  Casey,  who  had  been  working 
on  the  mine  for  wages,  still  had  confidence  and 
took  a  lease  on  it  for  six  months.  In  less  than  two 
weeks  he  struck  into  mineral  bigger  than  ever. 

Pat  in  his  new  found  wealth,  as  the  tale  goes, 
quit  work  himself,  and  his  butter-fly  friends  began 
to  tell  him  how  to  spend  his  money.  They  induced 
him  to  buy  a  fine  carriage  and  four  horses.  With 
a  lackey  perched  on  a  high  seat  in  front  he  drove 
his  friends  to  the  different  saloons  and  had  re- 
freshments brought  out  to  them  on  a  tray.  With 
a  high-top  hat,  a  diamond  pin  and  other  fine  "tog- 
gery" he  had  a  "swell"  time.  It  might  be  too 
tedious  to  mention  his  various  escapades  with  his 
pseudo  friends. 


CHAPTER  III 

COULD    HAVE    OWNED    A    THIRD    INTEREST    IN 
DIVES  MINE.    FORMED  PARTNERSHIP,  PREFER- 
ABLE.  FOUND  AN  ICEBERG  A  MILLION  YEARS 
OLD.  ORIGIN  OF  "BOOM  DITCH"  IDEA.  MOUN- 
TAIN LION,  BEAR  AND  BLACK  SQUIRREL  IN 
CHAPARRAL  DISTRICT.  BROKE  ANOTHER 
ONE    OF    MY    SEVEN    "DONT'S"    FOR  A 
SHORT    TIME.      SPENT    THE    WINTER 
MONTHS  MERCHANDISING. 

Men  never  receive  any  material  benefit  for  their 
effort  unless  crowned  with  success.  There  was 
nothing  for  me  to  gain  by  sitting  down  and  cry- 
ing, or  even  whining,  nor  was  there  any  use  in 
laying  the  whole  blame  of  failure  on  an  imaginary 
something  called  "bad  luck."  Even  with  the  proper 
industry  there  is  always  an  element  of  uncertainty 
in  every  kind  of  business.  The  farmer  depends 
upon  the  season,  the  merchant  waits  for  a  cus- 
tomer, the  doctor  waits  for  some  one  to  get  sick, 
and  so  on  with  other  avocations.  The  only  thing  in 
sight  for  me  was  to  keep  on  trying. 

My  partner  in  the  King  David  said  he  had  an- 
other discovery  that  might  turn  out  better,  though 
a  man  named  Burr  owned  a  half  interest  with  him. 
They  both  agreed  that  if  I  would  bear  the  "grub" 
and  other  expense  we  three  would  work  together 
and  sink  it  ten  feet  deeper,  and  they  would  make 
a  deed,  so  as  to  make  me  an  equal  owner.  I  went 
with  them,  examined  the  mine  and  found  some 
mineral  in  the  bottom,  at  one  end  of  the  shaft,  then 
ten  feet  deep,  and  recorded  under  the  name  of 
"Dives."  I  took  a  small  piece  of  the  mineral  and 
paid  $4.00  to  find  out  that  it  assayed  nearly  $500.00 
per  ton, 


62  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

Possibly  it  might  be  only  a  pocket  and  peter  out 
like  the  King  David  did.  I  made  a  calculation  and 
the  expense  would  be  about  $100.00.  Approaching 
winter,  which  comes  early  in  that  section,  warned 
me  to  be  careful  of  my  bank  account.  I  was  none 
too  good  to  work  by  the  day,  but  that  was  not 
my  purpose  in  the  country.  I  was  to  tell  Hersha 
and  Burr  in  a  few  days  what  I  decided  on  doing. 
It  so  happened  that  I  met  John  Burkholder,  the 
teamster  that  hauled  our  ore  to  the  mill  for  us, 
during  the  time  I  was  deciding.  I  told  him  about 
our  mine  playing  out,  and  that  I  was  now  going 
to  try  my  "luck"  in  finding  a  beter  one.  And  hereon 
hangs  a  tale  that  I  will  unfold. 

The  smallest  kind  of  an  event,  the  shifting  of  a 
straw  to  show  which  way  the  wind  blows,  some- 
times changes  the  whole  tenor  of  a  man's  life.  In 
talking  with  Burkholder  he  proposed  to  pay  me 
half  wages  ($2.00)  for  a  half  interest  in  any  dis- 
covery I  might  make.  He  knew  as  well  as  I  did 
the  uncertainty  in  prospecting,  yet  was  willing  to 
lun  the  risk.  He  was  clearing  between  $5.00  and 
$6.00  per  day  above  expense  and  could  afford  to 
make  this  investment.  As  he  was  a  nice,  quiet, 
well  behaved  man  and  not  addicted  to  the  drink 
habit,  I  accepted  his  proposition.  In  fact  it  suited 
my  purposes  exactly. 

Finding  the  owners  of  the  Dives  I  declined  their 
proposition,  which  beyond  any  doubt  was  the 
greatest  mistake  of  all  my  life.  I  will  have  more  to 
say  about  the  Dives  in  the  regular  sequence  of 
events.  The  mistake  I  made  however  was  not  in 
the  selection  of  a  new  partner  for  he  was  always 
prompt  in  payment  and  liberal  in  his  dealings.  He 
was  a  Canadian  by  birth,  and  always  accepted  dis- 
appointment without  complaining. 

This  might  have  been  a  proper  time  to  complete 
the  contract  of  the  past  winter  which  we  failed  to 
finish  on  account  of  deep  snow,  but  I  had  a  little 
unpleasantness  with  my  partner  in  this  contract, 
and  we  were  not  now  on  speaking  terms.  In  his 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  63 

movements  as  a  soldier  in  the  Northern  army  he 
was  in  Jackson  County,  my  old  home,  and  knew 
by  name  a  number  of  people  I  had  once  known. 
He  spoke  of  those  he  met,  as  "poor  white  trash," 
very  little  if  any  better  than  the  negro.  Yes  that 
may  be  so,  I  said,  for  no  decent,  respectable  white 
people  down  South  would  associate  with  a  yankee 
soldier,  and  as  it  was  congenial  for  him  to  meet 
this  "white  trash,"  perhaps  he  sprung  from  that 
class  in  his  own  country.  I  told  him  it  was  best 
for  us  not  to  talk  of  things  pertaining  to  the  war. 

Once  more,  with  pick  and  shovel,  I  took  the 
"blind  trail"  in  search  of  "float"  rock  or  any  kind 
of  "croppings"  that  appeared  above  the  debris. 
The  greatest  trouble  in  prospecting  was  this  "de- 
bris" which  was  sometimes  twenty  feet  deep,  and 
underneath  this  mass  of  stuff  there  might  be  the 
hiding  place  of  a  good  mine.  Due  to  this  fact  it 
may  be  a  thousand  years  before  the  country  is 
thoroughly  prospected.  Even  tunnels  may  pass 
through  a  lean  spot  in  a  mine. 

After  the  first  week,  in  consultation  with  my 
partner  I  concluded  to  seek  "pastures  new."  Only 
a  little  after  daylight  found  me  on  my  way  up  the 
left  branch  of  the  creek.  The  mountain  between 
the  two  creeks  was  covered  with  timber,  and  the 
mountain  not  so  high  as  those  on  each  side  of  it, 
however  it  gradually  increased  in  height  the  nearer 
it  approached  the  range.  I  had  never  been  up  this 
creek  before  and  of  course  it  was  all  new  territory 
to  me. 

Slowly  winding  my  way  along  the  mountain 
side  I  came  to  the  famous  Equator  mine.  To  my 
surprise  they  had  installed  a  small  steam  engine 
and  all  the  hoisting  was  done  by  that  means.  New- 
ore  chambers  were  being  opened  and  fifty  men 
were  working  day  and  night.  It  required  a  team 
making  three  and  four  loads  each  day  to  the  mill 
There  was  very  little  use  of  prospecting  near  this 
mine  for  men  had  already  been  there  with  pick 


64  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

and  shovel,  so  I  passed  on  from  one  to  four  miles 
further. 

It  was  nearly  a  mile  from  the  Equator  to  the 
top  of  Leavenworth  mountain,  and  from  there  due 
west  some  seven  or  eight  miles  to  the  Continental 
Range.  In  this  area,  which  was  really  in  the  heart 
of  the  mining  region,  there  was  quite  a  territory 
of  unexplored  ground  which  might  contain  valuable 
mineral  deposits.  This  was  a  problem  no  one  could 
answer  without  investigation,  which  meant  work 
with  the  pick  and  shovel.  Of  course  this  work 
must  be  guided  to  some  extent  by  indications,  often 
uncertain  and  misleading. 

To  find  a  mine,  either  good  or  worthless,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  find  the  bedrock  in  place. 
I  spent  two  weeks  with  this  object  in  view,  but  it 
is  always  uncertain  how  deep  the  fill  may  be.  The 
greatest  obstacle  the  prospector  encounters  in  this 
debris  composed  of  loose  rock  and  dirt.  Just  how 
to  remove  this  obstruction  was  a  matter  of  great 
importance.  About  six  miles  above  Georgetown  I 
saw  a  branch  flowing  into  the  creek.  Following  this 
up  I  found  its  source  was  from  the  lower  part  of  a 
large  glacial  ice  bank.  Perhaps  it  had  once  been 
snow  at  some  remote  period  of  the  earth  while 
adjusting  its  surface,  but  it  was  solid  ice  now.  It 
was  about  one  mile  long,  and  at  places  a  quarter 
mile  wide.  I  made  no  effort  to  ascertain  its  thick- 
ness. 

My  intention  in  going  up  this  little  branch  was 
to  look  for  bedrock,  and  maybe  a  solid  vein  of  mi- 
neral waiting  for  some  one  to  come  along  and  claim 
it.  Prospectors  like  others  often  imagine  things  far 
beyond  the  real.  Instead  of  this  glittering  wealth  I 
saw  many  beautiful  cascades,  with  scraggy  chap- 
arral bushes  growing  down  to  the  edge  of  the 
water  and  difficult  to  get  through.  At  one  place 
they  covered  four  or  five  acres  on  each  side  of  the 
branch  so  dense  and  thick  that  I  had  to  go  around 
them.  This  was  an  excellent  place  for  bear  and 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  65 

mountain  lion  that  infested  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, as  I  learned  later. 

But  the  great  iceberg  was  the  principal  feature 
that  attracted  my  attention  as  well  as  admiration. 
At  the  lower  end  of  the  "berg"  there  was  no  small 
undergrowth,  but  a  liberal  number  of  large  hem- 
lock pine  trees.  With  all  these  wild  surroundings 
I  took  my  frugal  lunch,  using  ice  cold  water  as  it 
emerged  from  its  own  repository.  This  solitude 
and  loneliness  was  enough  to  inspire  one's  thoughts 
and  lift  him  above  the  sordid  affairs  of  life,  but  in 
my  case  they  continued  to  grovel  on  a  lower  plane, 
with  mercenary  views  only. 

It  occurred  to  me  this  wasting  water  might  be 
turned  aside  from  its  natural  channel  and  carried 
along  by  a  ditch  to  desirable  points  and  used  in  re- 
moving the  debris  that  covers  the  bedrock.  The 
more  I  thought  about  the  scheme  the  more  plau- 
i>able  it  appeared ;  of  course  the  details  would  have 
to  be  worked  out  as  we  got  to  them.  I  followed 
along  up  the  mountain  near  the  iceberg  in  order 
to  find  out  more  definitely  in  regard  to  its  dimen- 
sions. It  extended  on  above  timber  line,  in  fact 
nearly  to  the  summit.  On  reaching  the  top  I  could 
see  Gray's  Peak  some  three  or  four  miles  in  the  dis- 
tance, also  the  place  where  I  had  worked  and  never 
received  any  pay  for  my  labor. 

I  retraced  my  route  back  to  the  lower  end  of 
the  iceberg,  and  then  moved  along  what  I  deemed 
to  be  on  a  water  level  for  a  mile  or  more,  in  order 
to  see  if  there  was  anything  to  prevent  the  con- 
struction of  a  ditch.  Finding  no  great  obstruction, 
as  it  was  late  in  the  evening,  I  hastened  to  my 
cabin,  reaching  there  a  little  after  dark.  I  found 
Burkholder  down  in  the  city,  and  we  went  back 
to  the  cabin  where  I  drew  a  diagram  of  the  two 
creeks,  with  Leavenworth  mountain  between  them, 
also  showing  the  location  of  Equator  and  Terrible 
mines.  We  agreed,  as  next  day  was  Sunday,  to  go 
out  on  the  mountain  where  I  had  been  digging, 


66  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

also  to  the  little  branch,  the  chaparral  thicket,  and 
iceberg. 

We  spent  the  entire  day  walking,  talking  and 
making  investigations  too  tedious  to  mention.  We 
decided  however  several  important  questions. 
First,  that  it  was  rather  a  big  undertaking  for  two 
men  with  a  very  limited  capital ;  he  said  $2.00  per 
day  was  about  as  much  as  he  wished  to  take  out 
of  his  earnings,  and  with  me  I  would  soon  be  at 
the  end  of  my  rope.  Second,  that  it  was  too  far  to 
walk  and  do  a  day's  work,  and  for  this  reason  it 
would  be  necessary  to  camp  near  the  place.  And 
we  reached  still  another  conclusion,  that  consider- 
ing the  altitude  it  would  only  be  a  short  time  be- 
fore snow  would  stop  the  work,  as  I  had  learned 
to  my  sorrow  just  a  few  miles  across  the  mountain, 
and  about  the  same  height,  so  it  was  deemed  pru- 
dent to  wait  until  next  season. 

I  might  have  found  employment  in  some  of  the 
mines  but  did  not  like  the  idea  of  working  by  the 
day  under  a  boss.  I  had  never  been  used  to  it,  so  I 
spent  two  or  three  days  providing  enough  wood 
for  the  approaching  winter,  as  I  wanted  to  take  a 
rest  and  not  be  in  too  big  a  hurry.  I  felt  safe  enough 
on  the  money  question  for  any  emergency,  by 
being  careful.  Sometimes  there  is  luck  in  leisure. 
I  might  try  it  a  little  while.  I  had  tried  work  and 
the  results  were  not  very  encouraging. 

Formerly  I  had  always  been  very  fortunate  in 
finding  something  to  do  of  a  suitable  character. 
One  of  my  slogans,  that  I  often  repeated,  was  that 
a  man  can  always  find  something  to  do  if  he  is 
willing,  ready  and  competent.  These  three  things 
are  needed  to  give  satisfaction.  A  few  days  later, 
in  a  most  casual  way,  and  without  any  particular 
purpose,  I  stopped  at  a  vegetable  store.  Meeting 
Mr.  Clark,  the  proprietor,  a  man  some  sixty  years 
of  age,  who  had  recently  sold  a  mine  for  $5,000., 
and  now  had  more  money  than  sense,  I  suggested 
to  him  that  he  ought  to  have  a  clerk  to  help  him 
in  the  business. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  67 

He  said:  "Yes,  I  need  one  but  there  are  so  many 
"dag  on"  rascals  in  the  country  I  am  afraid  to  risk 
them."  I  told  him  about  teaching  school  here  in 
Georgetown,  and  that  many  of  the  best  citizens 
knew  me,  that  I  neither  gambled,  nor  even  went 
into  any  of  the  saloons,  also  that  I  had  clerked 
for  a  number  of  men  in  the  mercantile  business.  In 
further  conversation  he  mentioned  that  the  busi- 
ness would  not  justify  him  in  paying  more  than 
$40.00  per  month,  if  that  suited  me  I  could  com- 
mence at  once. 

The  stock  he  kept  for  the  trade  consisted  of  po- 
tatoes, cabbages,  onions,  tomatoes  and  other  pro- 
ducts the  farmers  in  the  valley  brought  up  for  sale. 
Before  the  day  was  over  I  suggested  to  him,  as 
there  were  already  counters  and  scales  to  begin 
with,  why  not  add  the  proper  shelving  and  put  in 
a  general  line  of  groceries.  The  suggestion  met  his 
approval  at  once,  so  I  found  a  Denver  paper,  and 
the  advertisement  of  a  wholesale  grocery  house 
with  the  various  items  kept  for  sale,  just  the  things 
we  wanted. 

I  made  out  an  order  that  evening,  enclosed  a 
certified  check  and  instructed  them  to  forward  out 
as  soon  as  possible,  also  requesting  them  to  fill  the 
order  at  their  lowest  prices,  as  future  orders  would 
follow.  Clark  was  a  good  carpenter  himself,  so 
the  shelving  was  all  in  good  shape  by  the  time 
goods  arrived.  I  told  him  to  have  a  nice  sign  put 
up  over  the  door,  and  to  place  an  advertisement 
in  the  paper  that  he  was  ready  and  prepared  to 
wait  on  the  public  with  a  fresh  supply  of  family 
groceries. 

He  was  nearly  tickled  to  death  at  the  idea  of 
being  a  real  merchant.  He  cut  off  the  back  end 
part  of  the  store  room  by  a  partition  for  a  sleeping 
room.  We  were  doing  well  and  building  up  a  good 
trade  and  had  sent  in  our  second  and  third  order. 
I  noticed  the  old  man,  at  times,  was  slow  and  in- 
different, frequently  he  was  absent  half  a  day,  and 
made  no  explanation  of  what  he  was  doing.  At 


68  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

other  times  he  talked  too  much  and  too  loud,  say- 
ing many  things  unnecessary  and  out  of  place,  es- 
pecially for  a  merchant. 

To  my  surprise  he  told  me  one  day  that  he  had 
rented  another  house,  and  after  making  certain 
changes  was  about  ready  to  open  a  new  restaurant, 
and  that  from  now  on  he  wanted  me  to  occupy  his 
room  at  night,  and  take  my  meals  at  the  restau- 
rant, and  to  look  after  its  management  all  I  could, 
for  he  had  still  another  scheme  that  would  take  up 
most  of  his  time. 

From  this  and  other  various  causes  I  began  to 
suspect  that  he  had  wheels  in  his  head  that  were 
not  running  as  smoothly  as  they  ought  to.  The 
new  plan  suited  me  very  well  as  I  had  been  staying 
in  my  cabin  and  doing  my  own  cooking.  In  clean- 
ing up  his  room  I  found  several  empty  wine  bot- 
tles and  egg  shells.  Asking  him  about  it  he  said 
that  he  broke  a  fresh  egg  every  morning  in  a  gob- 
let, and  after  filling  it  with  wine,  drank  it  in  order 
to  rejuvenate  his  system  and  make  him  young 
again.  This  explained  to  me  why  he  talked  too 
much  and  too  loud  at  times,  but  it  was  none  of  my 
business,  so  I  said  nothing. 

Just  about  this  time  Bob  Harper  and  Milt  Buck- 
hana  from  Alabama  made  their  appearance.  What 
on  earth  they  wanted  to  come  for  was  more  than 
I  could  tell.  They  were  both  dead  broke.  They  were 
nearly  scared  to  death,  had  pawned  their  pistols 
and  valise  in  Denver  for  enough  money  to  ride  up 
in  the  bus  for  fear  bandits  might  attack  them  if 
they  walked.  I  had  to  give  them  $15.00  to  send  after 
their  things.  After  supper  at  the  restaurant  I  con- 
veyed them  up  to  my  cabin  and  explained  to  them 
some  of  the  arts  of  cooking,  and  showed  them 
where  there  was  plenty  to  eat  as  long  as  it  lasted, 
and  when  out  we  would  get  more.  So  they  walked 
back  with  me  down  to  the  store. 

We  met  Mr.  Clark  and  he  was  in  one  of  his 
moods  to  be  pleasant  and  kind  hearted  toward  the 
boys.  He  told  them  to  come  down  to  the  restaurant 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  69 

and  get  their  breakfast,  and  that  he  would  give 
them  their  board  and  $3.00  per  day  to  work  for 
him,  provided  they  did  good  work.  He  was  pre- 
empting vacant  lots  by  putting  foundations  for 
buildings  on  them,  and  putting  posts  around  to 
show  the  size  of  the  lot.  He  had  bought  several  old 
buildings  from  parties,  putting  up  new  houses, 
and  was  moving  these  onto  vacant  lots.  This  was 
a  money-making  scheme  of  his  own,  and  no  wheels 
in  his  head  on  that  score. 

He  paid  them  of!  at  night  and  said  to  Harper 
that  he  would  not  need  him  any  longer,  and  told 
me  privately  that  he  was  no  account  to  work, 
though  the  other  fellow  did  fairly  well.  I  knew  Bob 
of  old  and  did  not  expect  him  to  hold  his  job.  Next 
evening  he  came  down  to  the  store  and  I  asked 
him  what  he  expected  to  do  out  here  in  this  rough 
country,  and  he  replied  that  he  was  not  going  to 
stay  any  longer  than  he  could  help.  That  he  had 
already  written  his  mother  to  send  him  enough 
money  to  carry  him  back  home. 

Really  I  had  a  very  poor  opinion  of  him  myself 
and  was  glad  to  learn  that  he  was  going  to  leave. 
It  was  still  fresh  in  my  mind  that  while  he  was 
fighting  a  man  in  the  streets  of  Larkinsville,  I  step- 
ped to  the  door,  and,  as  I  did  so  the  man  broke 
away  and  ran.  Harper  threw  a  rock  that  hit  the 
door  facing  close  to  me  and  glancing  off  broke  a 
lot  of  queensware  on  the  shelf.  When  he  returned 
to  town  later,  and  while  sober,  I  called  his  atten- 
tion to  what  he  had  done  but  he  made  no  offer  to 
pay  for  the  damage,  but  this  was  all  Harper  blood. 
A  few  years  after  returning  home  he  was  killed  in 
a  fight.  He  must  have  been  afraid  the  big  moun- 
tains out  here  would  fall  on  him,  for  he  was  a 
holy  terror  at  home. 

The  other  "feller"  as  Clark  called  him  continued 
to  work  while  the  job  lasted.  His  brother-in-law  re- 
ceived his  remittance  and  we  both  gladly  saw  him 
depart.  Buck  went  up  one  of  the  forks  and  found 
work  at  a  saw-mill,  returning  in  about  a  month 


70  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

with  more  money  than  he  earned  by  wages.  Of 
course  I  knew  how  he  got  it.  The  next  I  heard  of 
him  he  was  connected  in  some  way  with  a  saloon 
that  had  a  gambling  den  upstairs.  Later  he  knocked 
at  my  door  one  morning  between  three  and  four 
o'clock  and  asked  me  to  get  up. 

He  had  lost  sleep  for  several  nights  and  maybe 
had  "booze"  under  his  belt.  While  I  was  fixing  him 
something  to  eat  he  was  telling  me  what  a  "rat- 
tling" time  he  had  with  the  gamblers,  and  pulled  out 
a  roll  of  money  nearly  as  large  as  my  arm.  "How 
much  have  you  got,  Milt?"  I  asked.  "Oh  there  is 
no  telling,  I  have  been  adding  to  the  roll  for  several 
nights,  I  know  there  are  a  number  of  20's  but  I 
couldn't  take  time  to  count  it.  I  am  going  to  start 
home  on  the  coach  which  leaves  at  daylight.  I  may 
have  some  trouble  in  getting  off  but  I  am  going  to 
try  it."  I  saw  him  off  all  right  but  I  learned  later 
he  did  not  get  home  with  any  money.  He  did  well 
to  get  home  alive.  These  events  are  mentioned  to 
show  the  kind  of  a  life  a  man  may  lead  in  the  moun- 
tains. 

It  was  now  spring  of  the  year,  though  there  was 
lots  of  snow  on  the  mountains,  but  the  roads  were 
kept  open  by  constant  travel.  I  might  mention  here 
that  during  the  winter  I  met  a  lawyer  by  the  name 
of  Frank  Pope.  He  was  by  birth  a  Mississippian, 
and  had  been  captain  of  a  company,  from  that  state, 
during  the  war.  He  was  a  fine  looking  man,  dressed 
well,  and  the  presumption  was  that  he  had  lots  of 
money,  though  a  person  cannot  always  tell  by  ap- 
pearances. On  his  invitation  I  stepped  into  his 
office  one  night,  and  in  talking  about  the  mining 
prospects  in  general  I  mentioned  the  plan  I  had 
in  view.  Taking  up  a  piece  of  paper  I  drew  a  dia- 
gram of  the  whole  scheme  and  explained  its  possi- 
bilities. 

The  main  thing  needed  by  me  now,  as  I  explained 
to  him,  was  a  partner  with  a  small  capital,  who 
would  hire  a  man  to  work  with  me  all  the  time 
during  the  season,  and  who  would  share  equally 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  1\ 

in  all  discoveries  that  might  be  made.  This  seems 
to  me,  he  said,  "one  of  the  best  things  yet  presented 
to  my  mind,  a  kind  of  machine  for  making  disco- 
veries. I  have  a  friend  back  in  Mississippi  by  the 
name  of  Harmon.  He  is  a  judge  in  chancery  court 
embracing  a  certain  division  of  the  state,  and  is  a 
man  of  some  means.  In  a  letter  from  him  a  short 
time  ago  he  spoke  of  becoming  interested  in  some 
of  the  mines.  As  this  venture  will  not  cost  him 
much,  I  will  send  him  the  diagrams  with  full  ex- 
planations, and  if  he  thinks  favorably  we  will  take 
a  half  interest  with  you." 

The  more  Pope  thought,  and  perhaps  talked  to 
others  about  the  scheme  the  more  enthused  he  be- 
came, even  writing  his  friend  Harmon  a  second 
letter,  who  wrote  back  expressing  his  willingness 
to  be  one  of  the  four  partners.  Clark  sold  out  his 
restaurant,  as  it  was  not  paying  expenses.  I  had 
insisted  from  the  beginning  that  everything  taken 
from  the  store  for  use  in  the  restaurant  must  be 
charged  that  way,  otherwise  I  would  not  be  re- 
sponsible for  the  success  of  the  store. 

When  the  snow  disappeared  around  Georgetown 
I  notified  Mr.  Clark  that  as  soon  as  it  was  off  the 
higher  altitudes,  where  I  expected  to  do  prospect- 
ing, that  I  would  have  to  quit,  and  was  giving  him 
timely  notice  to  that  effect.  About  a  week  later 
he  told  me  that  two  grocery  men  had  agreed  to 
take  all  his  goods  at  first  cost,  and  for  me  to  assist 
them  in  making  an  inventory.  I  was  gratified  to 
show  Mr.  Clark  a  balance  sheet  that  he  had  made 
a  few  hundred  dollars  in  the  grocery  business.  The 
last  I  heard  of  him  he  was  in  the  butcher  business 
in  Central  City. 

It  was  now  about  the  20th  of  May  1869.  I  easily 
found  Burkholder  and  on  Sunday,  the  only  idle 
day  with  him,  we  went  out  to  see  the  iceberg  and 
the  condition  of  the  snow  in  that  region.  We  found 
it  melting  rapidly,  but  too  much  in  the  timber 
where  we  had  to  commence,  though  thought  it 
would  be  all  right  in  another  week.  By  inquiry  of 


72  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

parties  who  had  used  water  in  the  valley  for  irri- 
gating purposes  I  learned  that  a  fall  of  one  inch 
to  ten  feet  was  just  right  for  water  to  flow  without 
washing  the  channel.  I  also  learned  from  them  how 
to  make  a  triangle,  and  how  to  use  it  so  as  to  give 
the  ditch  a  uniform  grade.  A  man  might  guess  at 
it  but  the  eye  is  often  deceived. 

A  device  of  this  character  would  be  very  useful 
to  a  farmer  in  draining  his  land.  It  is  made  by 
taking  two  pieces  of  timber  1x2  and  dove-tailing 
one  end  of  each  at  right  angles  and  then  cutting  off 
the  legs  so  they  will  be  ten  feet  apart  and  of  equal 
length.  One  foot  above,  and  inside  each  leg  adjust 
a  bar  of  the  same  size  as  the  legs  of  the  triangle. 
Suspend  a  plumb  line  from  the  apex  of  the  trian-- 
gle,  first  placing  its  legs  on  a  level  surface,  and 
mark  on  the  bar  with  a  scribe  awl  where  the  plumb 
line  touches.  Put  a  substance  an  inch  thick  under 
one  leg  of  the  triangle  and  mark  where  the  line 
touches  and  this  will  give  a  fall  of  one  inch  to 
ten  feet. 

As  a  good  deal  depended  upon  the  correctness  of 
this  instrument,  I  made  it  myself  to  be  sure  it  was 
right.  Walking  down  the  street  one  day  I  was 
about  to  pass  a  man.  He  didn't  have  the  appearance 
of  a  business  man,  a  miner  or  a  gambler,  and  I 
could  generally  tell  what  a  man  was  by  his  appear- 
ance. He  was  moving  along  rather  slowly,  I  asked 
him  if  he  was  looking  for  something.  "Yes  I  am 
looking  for  a  job.  I  have  been  working  on 
a  ranch  down  in  the  valley  at  $25.00  per  month 
and  thought  I  might  do  better  up  here,  but  so  far 
have  failed  to  find  anything  to  do." 

"Well,  I  want  to  hire  a  man  to  help  me  build 
a  ditch,  and  if  you  are  a  good  worker  I  will  give 
you  $50.00  per  month  and  board,  such  as  we  cook 
for  ourselves  out  in  camp."  "That  will  suit  me 
exactly,"  he  said,  "for  very  few  men  can  do  more 
work  with  a  pick  and  shovel  than  I  can,  but  I  am 
nearly  out  of  money  and  want  to  commence  at 
once."  I  told  him  he  could  stay  in  my  cabin  with- 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  73 

out  any  cost  to  him,  and  could  begin  next  Monday, 
to  which  he  agreed. 

This  was  my  leisure  week  in  which  to  get  every- 
thing ready.  I  bought  a  heavy  piece  of  cloth,  10x4 
wide  and  5  yards  long  to  make  an  "A"  tent  for  our 
camp,  also  gave  an  order  to  the  tinner  to  make  me 
a  "dutch"  oven  for  baking  bread.  The  next  day 
being  Saturday  I  asked  Lum  (that  was  the  first 
part  of  his  name)  to  walk  with  me  up  to  the  place 
we  were  going  to  work.  We  carried  a  pick  and 
shovel,  making  a  kind  of  "jack  trail"  from  the 
creek  below  up  to  the  camping  place.  Lum  was  de- 
lighted with  the  iceberg  and  the  wild  scenery  which 
had  become  commonplace  to  me.  There  was  yet 
some  snow  in  the  timber. 

I  hired  from  the  owner,  a  driver  with  two  pack 
animals  to  carry  our  equipage  consisting  of  two 
picks,  two  shovels,  one  axe,  one  hatchet,  blankets, 
cooking  utensils  and  "grub"  for  two  weeks.  The 
triangle  was  light  and  I  carried  it  myself.  After 
we  had  unloaded  and  the  driver  had  departed,  we 
went  around  to  a  point  below  the  iceberg,  and  at 
places  Lum  shoveled  away  the  snow.  I  made  a 
survey  to  the  camp  where  the  timber  was  much 
lower  and  the  snow  had  disappeared. 

After  dinner,  as  we  had  the  water  grade  esta- 
blished, we  commenced  the  ditch  and  continued 
the  balance  of  the  week  on  both  sides  of  the  camp. 
In  the  meantime  we  took  our  hatchet  and  other 
tools  needed  and  hewed  out  a  place  in  the  iceberg 
to  place  our  beef  steak.  Perhaps  few  men  have 
had  the  privilege  of  eating  beef  frozen  in  ice, 
formed  ten  thousand  or  perhaps  a  million  years 
ago,  but  we  continued  to  use  it  for  that  purpose 
all  the  summer. 

The  next  week  we  pushed  the  ditch  on  back  to 
the  little  branch  and  turned  in  the  water  to  see 
if  it  would  flow  as  expected,  and  found  it  moved 
along  just  right.  The  next  thing  was  to  find  a  suit- 
able place  to  make  the  first  "boom."  It  was  all  new 
to  me  and  I  had  some  erroneous  ideas.  For  instance 


74  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

I  thought  the  water  turned  loose  down  the  moun- 
tain at  any  old  place  would  move  off  the  debris 
and  expose  the  bedrock,  but  in  this  I  was  sadly 
mistaken,  for  it  had  very  little  effect  on  it.  I  began 
to  think  the  enterprise  was  a  most  egregious  fail- 
ure, but  it  was  not  my  intention  to  give  it  up  so 
easily. 

It  is  said  that  necessity  is  the  mother  of  inven- 
tion, in  my  case  it  was  at  least  an  incentive  to 
thought.  That  silent  monitor  used  by  men  as  a 
lever  in  the  social,  literary  and  financial  affairs 
of  earth,  must  help  me  solve  this  dilemma.  I  did 
not  care  to  let  Lum  or  any  one  know  that  I  was 
disappointed  and  puzzled.  As  it  was  Saturday  eve- 
ning and  we  were  nearly  out  of  supplies  we  stacked 
our  arms  and  went  to  town.  This  gave  me  more 
time  to  decide  the  proper  thing  to  do.  I  could  use 
a  whole  night  and  day  for  that  purpose. 

Evidently  the  one  thing  needed  was  more  water. 
I  was  not  nearly  big  enough  to  squeeze  the  ice- 
berg. Jack  the  giant  killer  or  Sinbad  the  sailor 
might  do  things  of  this  kind,  but  it  was  not  in  my 
line.  There  was  only  one  thing  to  do,  if  it  was 
possible,  and  that  was  to  build  a  reservoir  at  the 
proper  place  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  It  seems 
that  I  ought  to  have  thought  of  this  the  first  thing. 
There  was  some  question  in  my  mind  whether  I 
could  do  it  or  not.  One  thing  sure,  I  could  try, 
even  if  failure  should  be  the  result. 

The  plan  was  all  worked  out  in  my  head,  pro- 
vided there  was  no  hitch  in  the  program.  I  pur- 
chased a  heavy  open-tooth  saw,  a  hammer,  nails 
of  different  sizes  and  six  planks  1x10  inches,  six 
feet  long,  dressed  on  one  side,  also  one  piece  1x12 
and  two  feet  long.  Resuming,  in  due  time,  our  work 
on  the  mountain,  Lum  continued  on  the  supply 
ditch,  while  with  pick  and  shovel  T  went  to  make 
a  careful  selection  of  a  place  to  build  a  reservoir. 
I  went  all  the  way  to  the  creek  below,  a  half  mile 
or  more  and  then  back  taking  in  the  declivity  of  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  75 

mountain,  which  is  an  important  matter  in  making 
a  "boom"  down  the  side. 

About  forty  feet  below  the  supply  ditch  I  marked 
off  the  reservoir  giving  it  fifteen  feet  frontage, 
flanging  into  the  hill  on  each  side.  Next  morning 
•ve  both  commenced  throwing  dirt.  After  diggin^ 
back  on  a  level  six  or  eight  feet  we  embedded  about 
a  foot  inside  of  where  we  commenced  digging  two 
six-inch  logs  two  feet  apart,  and  on  these  logs 
constructed  a  flue  twenty-five  inches  wide  and 
eight  inches  deep.  We  built  on  each  side  and  over 
this  flue  with  logs  as  close  together  as  possible, 
filling  in  between  these  logs  with  dirt,  packed  with 
a  pestle.  When  complete  it  was  in  a  measure 
water  tight. 

We  dug  back  fifteen  or  eighteen  feet  and  it  was 
nearly  twenty  feet  across  at  the  top,  and  when 
nearly  full  was  four  feet  deep.  We  had  made  a 
head-gate  with  handle  so  as  to  raise  it  and  let 
the  water  out.  It  required  two  hours  to  fill  and 
five  minutes  to  run  out.  Most  of  two  days  was  re- 
quired in  tracing  the  water  down  the  mountain, 
cutting  roots  and  removing  obstructions  in  the 
beginning,  and  it  kept  one  man  busy  along  the 
ditch  for  that  purpose,  while  the  other  remained 
at  the  reservoir  to  put  off  small  booms  at  the 
start. 

These  details  are  mentioned  here  because  they 
were  common  to  all  other  reservoirs  and  booms, 
made  in  the  various  other  places.  It  required  all  of 
a  month,  including  building  the  reservoir,  to  com- 
plete the  chasm  down  the  side  of  the  mountain, 
for  it  took  two  or  three  days  to  repair  the  road 
near  the  creek.  When  the  chasm  was  made  and 
completed  the  bedrock  was  exposed  nearly  all  the 
way,  and  that  was  the  object  of  the  enterprise.  The 
cut  was  from  five  to  twelve  feet  deep,  and  shows 
the  difficulty  that  menaces  the  prospector  in  making 
discoveries  where  the  bedrock  is  covered  up  to 
this  depth. 

From   the   fact  that  loose   dirt  and   rocks   were 


76  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

still  falling  from  the  banks  of  the  cut  it  was  rather 
dangerous  to  make  a  close  inspection,  though  we 
could  see  down  from  the  surface  favorable  indica- 
tions. We  went  to  work  again  on  the  supply  ditch, 
for  I  had  already  picked  out  a  place  for  another 
reservoir.  Lum  was  a  good  faithful  hand,  with  an 
easy  agreeable  disposition.  He  could  do  about  a 
third  more  ditching  than  I  could.  In  body  he  had 
more  strength  and  also  more  endurance  for  hard 
work.  If  a  tree  happened  in  our  line  of  survey 
we  simply  dug  it  up,  and  in  this  way  kept  a  smooth 
flow  of  water. 

The  location  for  the  second  reservoir  was  about 
a  half  mile  from  the  iceberg,  and  on  reaching  that 
point  I  decided  to  stop  work  for  a  short  time  on 
the  supply  ditch.  I  concluded  it  would  be  safe  to 
go  down  the  boom  and  find  out  the  results  of  the 
first  cut  made.  Maybe  I  was  as  rich  as  Croesus 
and  didn't  know  it.  In  case  of  an  accident  it  was 
best  for  both  of  us  to  be  along,  and  besides  Lum 
was  a  good  hand  with  a  pick  and  shovel.  We  com- 
menced at  the  top  in  order  to  knock  off  any  loose 
rocks  that  might  seem  dangerous. 

About  two  hundred  feet  below  the  reservoir  we 
found  what  would  be  ordinarily  termed  good  in- 
dications. Any  vein  extending  down  through  gra- 
nite, the  indigenous  rock  of  the  country,  is  simply 
"indications"  until  it  has  some  kind  of  mineral, 
and  then  it  assumes  the  dignity  of  a  mine.  The  more 
gold  or  silver,  the  two  royal  metals,  that  are  found 
in  the  vein,  the  bigger  it  is.  With  this  definition  of 
a  mine  we  had  merely  found  a  fissure,  which  might 
be  a  mine  by  development. 

We  worked  there  two  days  with  a  well-defined 
vein  but  no  mineral,  so  concluded  to  go  further 
down  the  cut,  and  fare  better  or  do  worse.  Some- 
thing like  three  hundred  feet  further  down  we  made 
a  similar  discovery.  Working  only  two  or  three 
hours  on  this  we  passed  on,  hoping  to  find  some- 
thing better.  Over  half  way  down  to  the  creek 
where  the  mountain  was  not  nearly  so  steep,  nor 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  77 

was  the  cut  more  than  four  or  five  feet  deep,  we 
found  "indications"  much  more  promising. 

The  lay  of  the  ground  and  the  flow  from  the 
mine,  if  such  it  was,  reminded  me  very  much  of 
the  Equator  at  the  time  the  old  negro  was  trying 
to  find  the  vein,  and  the  white  man  virtually  took 
it  away  from  him.  No  doubt  Bowman  the  colored 
man  would  have  discovered  the  mine  if  he  had 
been  let  alone.  I  was  greatly  encouraged,  at  least 
for  the  time.  We  commenced  fifteen  feet  below 
with  an  open  cut  ten  feet  wide,  with  two  objects 
in  view.  First,  to  make  sure  of  finding  the  fissure 
in  the  bedrock,  and  second,  that  we  might  be  able 
to  timber  and  cover  a  place  for  sinking  a  shaft 
during  the  approaching  winter. 

While  Lum  enjoyed  himself  with  the  shovel  I 
went  below  to  examine  other  "indications"  which 
would  be  developed  if  those  above  proved  any  value. 
As  he  was  still  enjoying  himself  I  cut  logs  to 
build  a  small  cabin  12x14,  also  timber  to  fix  a 
shelter  over  the  intended  shaft.  It  took  us  two 
days  to  complete  the  cabin  and  prepare  for  work 
during  the  winter.  There  was  a  well  defined  fissure 
of  about  five  feet,  which  is  the  proper  width  for  a 
shaft,  and  it  ought  to  be  eight  feet  long  to  give 
good  working  room.  All  we  lacked  now  was  a 
good  pay  streak  of  mineral.  Like  the  young  man 
telling  that  he  came  very  near  getting  married,  all 
he  lacked  was  the  girl  saying  yes!  But  the  season 
for  top  work  was  rapidly  passing  and  we  must  get 
back  on  the  supply  ditch. 

As  it  occurs  to  my  mind  I  must  mention  a  little 
episode  that  took  place  while  we  were  working  on 
the  cabin.  It  was  only  a  short  distance,  say  a  hun- 
dred yards,  up  toward  the  branch,  where  the  cha- 
parral thicket  set  in.  A  disturbance  of  some  cha- 
racter caused  the  little  black  squirrels  to  chatter 
and  bark  a  great  deal  more  than  usual.  From  ap- 
pearance there  must  have  been  a  hundred  or  more 
all  trying  to  bark  at  the  same  time.  As  we  could 


78  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

see  nothing,  Lum  concluded  to  pick  his  way  out 
into  the  thicket  and  try  to  find  out  the  cause. 

In  a  short  time  I  lost  sight  of  him  but  could  see 
the  bushes  shaking.  While  watching  and  looking 
I  saw*  a  big  mountain  lion  move  up  on  the  hill 
beyond  the  branch  in  clear  view,  not  more  than  a 
hundred  yards  distant.  He  stopped,  switched  his 
long  tail,  looked  back,  and  I  could  see  he  had  one 
of  the  squirrels  in  his  mouth.  I  called  to  Lum  and 
told  him  to  go  on  across  the  branch  and  he  could 
see  the  lion  better  than  I  could,  but  he  came  back 
and  said  he  was  not  hunting  lions,  though  he  had 
often  heard  of  them  and  would  give  $10.00  to  see 
one,  provided  there  was  a  good  running  chance  to 
get  away. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  "North  Pole,"  and  taking 
possession  of  the  iceberg,  we  noticed  these  sleek 
black,  squirrels  were  both  numerous  and  very 
frisky.  At  first  they  barked  at  us  as  intruders,  but 
the  less  attention  we  paid  to  them  the  better  they 
liked  it,  until  they  got  so  tame  that  some  of  them 
were  careless  about  getting  out  of  our  way.  Just 
where  they  came  from,  or  how  they  got  there,  is 
more  than  I  can  tell.  They  are  the  only  black  squir- 
rels I  ever  saw  or  heard  of.  They  are  about  two- 
thirds  the  size  of  the  gray  squirrel.  Perhaps  those 
well  versed  in  zoology  may  be  able  to  tell  all  about 
them. 

Returning  to  the  city  I  soon  found  Burkholder, 
and  we  called  on  Pope  at  his  office,  where  I  made 
a  verbal  report  of  the  progress  in  the  work  and  the 
visible  results,  and  in  turn  they  made  payment  of 
their  part  of  expenses.  Pope  suggested  that  we 
name  the  three  discoveries  Faith,  Hope  and  Chan- 
ty. In  all  probability  the  names  had  very  little  to  do 
with  their  future  value. 

At  the  request  of  Mr.  Pope  I  wrote  to  Judge  E. 
P.  Harmon  at  Friars  Point,  Miss.,  a  rather  long 
letter  giving  him  the  full  particulars  of  the  work 
and  the  results,  with  a  hope  of  something  better  in 
the  future.  I  also  enclosed  a  statement  of  his  part 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  79 

of  the  expense.  In  his  reply  I  was  pleased  to  find 
his  check  in  full  payment,  and  also  a  kind  request 
that  I  write  him  another  long  letter.  As  future 
events  unfold  I  will  have  more  to  say  of  the  Judge. 

In  building  the  second  reservoir  it  required  less 
than  half  the  time  spent  on  the  first.  We  used  some 
of  the  same  material  over,  nor  was  it  nearly  so 
large.  Experience  had  taught  us  several  things  that 
we  might  have  known  at  the  beginning.  We  felled 
a  number  of  trees  near  the  creek  to  prevent  damage 
to  the  road,  completed  the  whole  thing  in  about 
ten  days  and  resumed  work  in  pushing  the  supply 
ditch  further  along. 

Already  we  had  spent  a  day  with  my  theodolite 
(triangle)  in  making  a  survey  of  two  miles  or  more 
to  find  out  for  sure  whether  water  could  be  put 
on  the  top  of  Leavenworth  mountain  or  not.  We 
found  there  would  be  both  trouble  and  additional 
expense,  of  which  I  will  speak  further  along,  yet 
it  was  possible,  though  it  might  require  two  or 
three  years  if  only  two  men  were  to  do  the  work. 
Examination  of  the  second  cut  showed  up  several 
fine  "indications"  similar  to  the  first  but  no  min- 
eral. Of  course  I  was  greatly  disappointed  but  had 
a  mighty  poor  way  of  helping  myself,  otherwise 
than  to  have  a  heart  for  any  fate.  Maybe  these 
fissures  were  yet  in  their  budding  period,  and  the 
fruit  would  have  to  grow  and  ripen  before  it  was 
ready  to  gather.  No  one  knows,  or  ever  will  know, 
how  these  fissures  cleft  their  way  through  a  solid 
granite  formation,  and  still  less  do  they  know  how 
the  mineral  found  its  way  to  fill  up  the  space.  A 
few  thousand  or  hundred  thousand  years  hence, 
these  fissures  and  others  of  a  similar  character 
may  be  valuable  mines,  worked  by  people  living  at 
that  remote  period  who  will  need  the  various  kind 
of  mineral  the  same  as  we  do  now.  I  am  not  ser- 
iously advancing  this  as  a  theory,  but  as  an  idea 
worthy  of  consideration.  It  may  be  one  of  Nature's 
ways  of  providing  for  future  generations. 

We  were  now  working  fully  a  mile  from  the  ice- 


80  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

berg  though  had  to  go  there  two  or  three  times 
each  day  after  water,  as  it  had  to  be  turned  back 
into  its  natural  channel.  Several  little  flurries  of 
snow  had  passed  over  and  I  knew  it  was  coming 
pretty  soon.  One  morning  a  little  later,  there  was 
eight  or  ten  inches  of  the  "beautiful"  on  the  ground. 
After  breakfast  we  carried  our  blanqets  and  sup- 
plies down  to  the  cabin  where  a  brand  new  feature 
presented  itself. 

All  around  the  cabin  there  were  fresh  bear  tracks 
that  looked  to  me  half  as  long  as  my  arm.  We  fol- 
lowed his  tracks  up  to  the  chaparral  thicket.  I  said 
to  Lum  to  go  in  and  stir  him  up,  and  I  would  stay 
out  so  as  to  see  him  run,  and  then  I  could  tell  how 
big  he  was.  "No  sir,"  he  said,  "this  is  your  time 
to  go  in  and  run  out  the  bear.  I  went  in  and  ran 
out  the  lion."  But  I  insisted  the  bear  was  not  bo- 
thering me,  and  I  preferred  to  let  him  alone.  So  we 
went  back  after  the  tools  and  other  things  and 
brought  them  down. 

While  we  were  resting  and  talking  I  suggested 
that  we  could  now  commence  developing  our  dis- 
covery, and  that  we  would  fix  up  a  nice  place  to 
work.  I  could  see  Lum  was  thinking  about  some- 
thing. Presently  he  said:  "I  expect  to  spend  the 
winter  down  in  the  valley,  and  to  tell  you  the  truth 
I  don't  like  the  prospect  of  being  "chawed"  up  by  a 
bear."  So  we  rolled  up  our  blankets  and  went  down 
to  the  city. 

The  first  thing  I  did  on  reaching  Georgetown 
was  to  hunt  up  a  man  named  Roberson  whom  I 
knew  qnite  well.  He  had  killed  several  bears,  and  I 
told  him  about  this  one.  He  tried  to  get  me  to  go 
back  with  him  and  see  the  fun  as  he  called  it,  but 
such  amusement  was  out  of  my  line.  I  told  him  that 
maybe  Lum  would  go,  but  he  too  declined  the 
honor.  However,  he  found  a  man  willing  to  go,  as 
he  said  to  help  him  bring  back  the  carcass.  I  gave 
him  the  key  to  the  cabin  and  told  him  there  was 
plenty  in  there  to  eat,  and  wood  to  use  in  cooking. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  81 

He   expected  to   be  absent  two  or  three   days  or 
longer,  if  necessary. 

If  time  and  space  permitted  I  might  describe 
this  punitive  expedition  as  related  by  Mr.  Rober- 
son;  suffice  to  say  that  the  deceased  Mr.  Bruin  was 
given  a  free  ride  down  the  mountain  on  an  impro- 
vised sled,  thence  bj  wagon  to  the  butcher's  shop 
where  he  hung  on  exhibition  to  an  admiring  crowd. 
His  remains,  some  six  or  eight  feet  long,  and  fat 
as  a  pig,  when  sold  at  20  cents  per  pound,  and  in- 
cluding the  pelt  enriched  the  hunters  to  the  tune 
of  $100.00  or  more.  Mr.  Roberson  told  me  he  went 
through  the  chaparral  thicket  and  found  where  his 
bearship  had  commenced  building  his  hibernating 
quarters. 

A  few  of  my  friends,  who  like  myself  were  more 
prospectors  than  miners,  told  me  about  a  rich  float 
found  up  above,  and  west  of  the  King  David.  I  had 
dug  a  number  of  holes  trying  to  find  where  this 
float  came  from  and  knew  the  location  referred 
to  by  them.  This  particular  side  of  the  mountain 
had  no  timber  on  it,  so  a  light  snow  soon  packed 
down  and  in  a  manner  disappeared.  Finding  a  mine 
is  like  looking  for  a  needle  in  a  hay-stack,  the 
same  place  may  be  searched  over  several  times 
before  finding  it,  so  I  concluded  to  try  it  over  at 
least  a  few  days. 

I  may  as  well  confess  that  I  was  not  very  an- 
xious to  spend  the  wrinter  at  my  new  mining  camp 
where  preparation  had  ben  made  for  that  purpose. 
In  a  measure  I  felt  it  both  my  duty,  and  may  be 
greatly  to  my  interest,  so  had  not  entirely  given 
up  the  idea.  I  held  a  consultation  with  Burkholder 
and  Pope  and  they  were  inclined  to  think  it  best 
to  wait  until  next  year.  I  told  them  my  only  busi- 
ness now  was  prospecting,  and  they  could  use  their 
own  option  in  sharing  in  the  results.  They  agreed 
their  interest  would  be  confined  to  the  Leaven- 
worth  Boom  Ditch  Co.,  and  that  only. 

With  an  early  start  I  returned  by  noon  from  my 
new  mining  camp  with  part  of  my  tools,  and  the 


82  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

balance  of  the  supplies  left  at  the  cabin,  so  I  am 
now  ready  to  commence  searching  for  the  "needle 
in  the  hay  stack."  A  man  gets  very  little  credit  for 
his  effort  or  for  anything  else  in  this  world  except 
success.  On  the  third  day  out  on  the  desolate 
mountain  side,  with  a  gloomy  tired  feeling  I  sat 
down  to  rest.  Reflecting  over  some  of  the  events 
that  had  taken  place  since  leaving  my  Alabama 
home  nearly  three  years  previous  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  put  me  in  a  very  pleasant  frame  of  mind. 
For  the  time  I  lost  sight  of  the  many  good  things 
received,  for  which  I  ought  to  feel  truly  thankful. 

Under  this  spirit  of  resentment  I  stood  up  and 
with  outstretched  arm  exclaimed:  ''Damn  such  a 
country  anyhow !"  Ordinarily,  the  use  of  this  little 
expletive,  which  is  in  common  use  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  men,  would  not  amount  to  a  "hill  of  beans," 
but  it  was  decidedly  different  with  me.  This  was 
the  first  profane  word  that  had  passed  my  lips  for 
sixteen  years  dating  back  to  the  time  of  the  first 
school  I  taught  in  my  fourteenth  year  of  age.  It 
seems  this  little  slip  opened  the  flood  gates,  so  the 
next  two  years  a  species  of  profanity  was  adopted, 
on  special  occasions,  which  for  freshness  and  vigor 
was  in  keeping  with  the  latest  and  most  fluent 
style.  One  day  Reason  came  back  and  claimed  her 
own,  then  the  vile  habit  stopped  and  was  no  more. 

The  above  paragraph  might  have  been  left  out, 
gladly  I  would  do  so,  but  there  is  a  dereliction  of 
duty  by  omission  as  well  as  commission.  In  writing 
these  memoirs  it  is  not  my  intention  to  throw  bou- 
quets to  myself,  but  to  hold  a  steady  hand  and  hew 
to  the  line  even  if  the  chips  fly  back  and  hit  me  in 
the  face.  Some  may  think  I  had  simply  lost  my  reli- 
gion, but  this  was  not  the  case  for  I  didn't  have 
any  to  lose.  Without  knowing  it  I  had  drifted  into 
a  kind  of  pantheism,  tempered  in  a  degree  with 
rationalism.  I  knew  there  were  certain  things  I 
didn't  know  and  couldn't  find  out,  nor  could  any 
one  else.  In  this  respect  there  was  a  strain  of 
agnosticism  which  was  accepted  as  a  fact. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  83 

During  my  early  years  of  maturity  before  the 
war  I  kept  a  book  in  which  I  formulated  at  differ- 
ent times  a  number  of  "dont's"  as  a  rule  and  guide 
to  my  conduct  in  life. 

(1)  Don't  drink  intoxicating  liquor,  because  it 
will  ruin  the  physical  and  nervous  system  and  will 
cause  a  man  to  do  foolish  things. 

(2  Don't  use  tobacco  in  any  form,  it  is  a  use- 
less, filthy  habit  and  contains  a  poison  that  will 
kill.  A  big  unsightly  worm  and  man  are  the  only 
living  creatures  that  will  put  it  inside  their  mouth. 

(3)  Don't  use  profane  language,  because  it  will 
only  add   fuel   to  an   angry  feeling,   and   show  to 
others  that  you  have  a  wicked  harmful  nature. 

(4)  Don't  use  obscene   language,  it  indicates  a 
base  heart  and  depraved  nature. 

(5)  Don't  gamble  (  because  it  will  train  you  in 
line  to  want  something  for  nothing,  which  is  next 
thing  to  stealing.  It  opens  the  way  to  a  life  of  dis- 
sipation. 

(6)  Don't   keep   bad   company.   All    nice    people 
will  shun  you  as  a  bird  of  the  same  "feather."  It 
is   sure  to  corrupt  your  morals  and  lead  you  to 
trouble. 

(7)  Don't  spend  your  time   in  idleness,  because 
life  is  too  short  to  lose  an  hour  that  might  be  spent 
to  a  useful  purpose. 

For  several  years  these  seven  "donts"  were  kept 
inviolate,  and  as  such  were  almost  part  of  my  life ; 
due  to  this  fact  they  deserve  this  passing  notice. 
To  break  one  was  in  a  measure  like  breaking  a 
spoke  in  a  wheel,  or  making  a  gap  in  a  fence  en- 
closing a  wheat  field.  The  second  one  was  broken 
while  a  prisoner  of  war  at  Camp  Chase,  and  the 
first  one  was  slightly  fractured  shortly  after  the 
war.  And  now  the  third  one  had  slipped  into  the 
"flint  mills,"  though  subsequently  rescued  without 
a  great  deal  of  damage.  The  two  first  rules  have 
never  been  restored  to  their  original  position,  yet 
I  am  glad  to  say  their  violation  has  never  beet] 
sadly  abused. 


84  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

We  read  about  a  set  of  ten  rules  said  to  have 
been  made  by  Moses  about  1400  B.  C.  called  the 
Decalogue.  They  were  given  to  the  Israelites  as 
a  guide  to  their  conduct,  and  hold  good  now  for 
the  same  purpose  among  men  dwelling  on  earth. 
It  is  not  my  intention  to  supplement  or  substitute 
these  seven  rules  for  that  ancient  document,  which 
Moses  said  was  written  by  the  finger  of  God, 
though  it  took  him  forty  days  and  nights  to  do  it. 
Reading  the  life  of  Ben  Franklin  we  find  he  for- 
mulated twelve  cardinal  virtues  to  be  used  as  point- 
ers along  the  journey  of  life.  I  am  making  no 
claim  to  the  originality  of  the  idea  of  formula- 
ting certain  rules  of  conduct,  but  do  claim  there  is 
virtue  in  these  seven  dont's  if  practiced. 

These  so-called  "donts"  were  supplemented  with 
an  appendix  in  the  shape  of  a  resolution :  "Do  right 
under  every  condition,  and  assist  your  fellow  man 
to  bear  the  burdens  of  life  as  much  as  possible." 
This  was  all  the  religion  I  had  or  knew  anything 
about.  It  may  be  these  rules,  and  as  some  may 
think  erratic  views  entertained,  in  a  measure  con- 
trolled some  of  the  events  I  am  now  trying  to  re- 
call, but  the  failure  of  success  in  my  efforts  evi- 
dently was  due  to  some  other  cause. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ALLOW  TWO  OLD  MEN  TO  MOVE  INTO  MY  CABIN 
WITH   ME.     INVESTIGATION  OF   SPIRITUALISM. 
ARRIVAL  OF  BROTHER  DANIEL.    WE  BUILD  A 
FLUE  AROUND  A  HIGH  CLIFF.    JUDGE  HAR- 
MON  PAYS  US  A  VISIT.    McMURTY  OWNS 
THE  DIVES   MINE.    DAVID  HERSHA  DIES. 
VISIT    OF    U.    S.    GRANT.     COMMENCE 
TUNNEL  ON  THE  KING  DAVID   MINE. 
ARRIVAL    OF    BROTHER    SHEPARD. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  a  prospector  is  to 
carry  a  lot  of  rocks  in  his  pockets,  regular  geolo- 
gical specimens  of  mineral-bearing  quartz,  which 
when  traced  to  their  original  home  may  make  him 
a  bonanza  king.  Of  course  these  visionary  dreams 
only  occur  when  he  is  in  one  of  his  hopeful  moods, 
which  happens  about  as  often  as  the  moon  gets 
full.  .Sometimes  he  has  so  many  of  these  specimens 
that  it  taxes  his  memory  to  recollect  their  different 
locations.  It  becomes  a  kind  of  second  nature  with 
him  to  pick  up  every  strange  looking  rock  and 
then  break  it  to  see  what  is  inside.  He  carries  with 
him  a  magnifying  glass  for  that  purpose ;  also  to 
light  his  pipe  by  coverging  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
If  the  wind  is  blowing  it  is  all  the  same  to  him. 

A  few  days  yet  remained  before  the  season  would 
close  against  surface  prospecting,  and  the  time 
was  spent  with  more  vigor  than  usual.  There  were 
several  of  us  engaged  in  trying  to  locate  the  same 
mine  somewhere  above  us.  We  often  met  and  com- 
pared samples  of  float,  and  knew  it  would  be  rich 
in  silver,  but  could  not  tell  whether  a  "big  thing" 
or  not.  There  was  a  spirit  of  friendly  rivalry  as  to 
who  would  be  the  lucky  one,  but  a  heavy  snow 
made  its  appearance,  which  caused  us  to  seek  shel- 
ter and  wait  a  more  favorable  time. 


86  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

I  had  a  good  cabin  and  reasonably  plenty  of 
everything  to  make  me  comfortable,  so  concluded 
not  to  "rush  the  cattle."  On  a  bleak  cold  day  while 
the  howling  winds  were  drifting  the  snow,  two  old 
men,  at  least  much  older  than  myself,  knocked  at 
my  door.  One  of  them  was  named  Webster 
and  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of  the  other, 
but  he  had  hurt  one  of  his  legs  and  it  had  not  yet 
healed.  They  wanted  to  occupy  part  of  my 
cabin.  Though  strangers,  yet  they  were  prospec- 
tors like  myself,  and  not  being  first  class  miners 
were  unable  to  get  work  in  any  of  the  paying 
mines. 

There  was  an  empty  bunk  and  plenty  of  room. 
They  told  a  tale  of  disappointment  and  failure,  but 
still  hoped  for  better  results.  A  fellow  feeling  often 
makes  us  wondrous  kind,  so  I  told  them  under  cer- 
tain conditions  they  could  move  in.  First,  that  I 
had  no  patience  with  a  drunken  man,  or  one  drink- 
ing enough  to  think  himself  smart,  and  want  to  talk 
with  his  mouth.  That  I  would  expect  them  to  keep 
the  cabin  clean,  and  to  use  their  own  cooking  ves- 
sels and  table  ware,  also  to  keep  the  stack  of  wood 
up  to  its  present  standard.  And  another  thing  in 
particular,  not  to  use  my  bed  in  my  absence. 

Later  I  found  them  to  be  nice,  agreeable  men 
and  I  had  no  regrets  for  my  extension  of  kindness. 
After  a  short  time  the  one  with  a  lame  leg  went  to 
the  valley  and  I  saw  him  no  more,  but  Webster  con- 
tinued to  stay  two  or  three  years.  My  time  was 
now  engaged  in  reading  a  few  books  and  many 
papers,  some  of  them  old  ones,  in  regard  to  Spir- 
itualism. It  was  entirely  a  new  cult  to  me  and 
might  be  true  or  it  might  not.  I  had  pamphlets  and 
papers  on  both  sides  of  the  question  and  was  try- 
ing to  sift  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  so  to  speak. 

Any  person  investigating  an  assumed  fact  ought 
to  do  so  unbiased  by  previously  formed  opinions, 
prejudice  or  self-interest.  If  he  can  not  clear  his 
mind  of  these  three  impediments,  that  will  pre- 
vent his  reaching  a  just  decision;  he  is  sure  to 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  87 

reach  an  erroneous  conclusion.  With  either  or  all 
of  these  three  things  standing  in  the  doorway  of 
light  and  knowledge  it  is  simply  a  loss  of  time  and 
talent  to  investigate  any  kind  of  a  subject.  It  is 
well  to  bear  this  in  mind  for  it  is  a  self-evident 
fact.  During  the  winter  it  was  my  privilege  to  at- 
tend a  number  of  seances,  given  by  Mrs.  De  Lamar 
and  William  Gray  as  the  mediums.  Her  husband, 
Frank  De  Lamar,  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers 
of  the  city,  and  my  acquaintance  with  the  family 
was  due  to  their  children,  at  a  former  time,  attend- 
ing my  school.  It  is  not  my  purpose  at  present  to 
tell  all  that  I  saw  or  the  conclusions  reached,  as 
it  would  extend  beyond  the  scope  of  these  mem- 
oirs. I  have  in  manuscript  form,  enough  written 
on  this  subject,  and  others  of  a  kindred  nature,  to 
fill  a  book  two  hundred  pages  or  more,  in  which  I 
have  given  the  evidence  for  reaching  certain  con- 
clusions extending  through  a  period  of  over  forty 
years. 

That  a  spirit  entity,  or  whatever  it  is,  might  be 
able  to  impart  information  to  denizens  of  the  earth, 
was  to  me  at  that  time  a  very  unreasonable  pro- 
position. But  it  was  not  a  question  whether  it  was 
reasonable  or  not,  but  one  involving  truth. 

During  the  winter  season  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Caney  Doss  made  his  appearance.  His  brothers 
and  sisters  had  attended  my  school,  taught  in 
Marshal  County,  Ala.,  and  from  them  he  learned 
my  location.  Being  of  a  roving  disposition  he  was 
here  for  business  or  adventure,  however  preferring 
the  latter.  He  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  money  and 
was  quite  independent  and  self-reliant.  Remaining 
with  me  a  week  or  ten  days  he  joined  an  expedi- 
tion, headed  by  Col.  Jackson,  who  had  been  a  Col- 
onel in  a  Texas  Regiment,  and  crossed  the  range 
on  snowshoes,  pulling  their  supplies  on  sleds  made 
for  that  purpose. 

Some  three  or  four  months  later  he  returned.  I 
was  a  little  anxious  to  learn  the  nature  of  the  ex- 
pedition but  deferred  asking  at  once.  The  next 


88  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

morning,  about  four  o'clock,  he  was  up  preparing 
a  hasty  meal  and  said  he  would  leave  on  the  stage 
at  daylight.  Calling  for  pen,  ink  and  paper,  he 
handed  me  an  order  on  Col.  Jackson  for  $30.00 
and  said,  make  him  pay  you.  I  received  one  letter 
from  him  out  in  Nevada  and  never  heard  from  him 
any  more.  When  Col.  Jackson  returned  I  presented 
the  order,  and  he  paid  it  without  asking  a  single 
question,  as  he  was  about  ready  to  take  the  stage 
and  leave  the  country.  I  have  mentioned  the  above 
incident  to  show  some  of  the  many  features  of 
mountain  life. 

Possibly  I  might  have  spent  the  winter  working  in 
some  of  the  mines,  but  I  had  decided  not  to  work 
for  any  one  but  myself.  As  a  recreation  I  spent 
part  of  my  time  in  a  nice,  well-conducted  billiard 
hall  where  I  found  a  number  of  the  popular  East- 
ern papers,  such  as  Harper's,  Leslies'  and  Days 
Doings.  I  also  learned  to  play  the  fascinating  game 
of  billiards,  which  cost  me  to  the  tune  of  $20.00 
or  more,  but  I  had  at  least  that  much  fun.  Here  I 
met  a  new  lot  of  guys,  and  gamblers,  though  never 
allowed  myself  to  call  them  by  name. 

About  the  middle  of  April  I  concluded  to  visit 
the  place  where  I  quit  prospecting  the  year  before 
to  see  if  the  snow  was  off  and  the  frost  was  out 
of  the  ground  enough  to  resume  search  for  the 
"needle  in  the  hay  stack."  I  found  on  reaching  the 
place  one  of  the  prospectors,  a  week  before,  had 
stuck  his  pick  down  exactly  at  the  right  place  and 
turned  up  a  lot  of  nice  ore  close  to  the  grass  roots. 
Several  were  at  work  sacking  up  the  ore  as  taken 
out.  I  asked  who  made  the  discovery,  and  no  one 
paid  any  attention  to  .my  question.  The  last  hole  I 
dug  was  a  little  below,  to  one  side,  and  not  a  hun- 
dred feet  from  the  place  they  were  working.  Some 
one  named  it  Silver  Plume.  One  singular  thing 
about  this  mine  was  that  in  following  the  ore  vein 
it  went  into  the  mountain  on  a  level  sixty  or  seventy 
feet  before  reaching  solid  bedrock,  and  then  turned 
down  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  89 

The  mine  became  involved  some  way  in  a  law 
suit  and  was  tied  up,  and  I  never  heard  of  it  pro- 
ducing valuable  results  after  this.  Due  to  other 
mining  resources,  of  which  I  will  speak  later,  people 
began  to  build  houses  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
below,  and  the  village  went  by  the  name  of  Silver 
Plume.  The  last  time  I  saw  the  place  there  was  all 
of  a  thousand  inhabitants,  and  some  of  the  houses 
were  less  than  a  hundred  yards  from  the  King 
David.  A  big  stamp  mill  had  been  built  on  the  creek 
a  short  distance  below. 

At  this  time  I  was  geting  dowrnright  tired  of  a 
rather  forced  idleness,  and  I  was  anxious  to  push 
the  work  of  the  Boom  Ditch  Co.  I  knew  there  was 
a  big  summer's  work  ahead  of  me  if  I  reached  cer- 
tain objective  points.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  get 
the  right  kind  of  a  man  to  help  me  in  our  work.  I 
would  have  written  Lum  but  did  not  know  his  ad- 
dress. Just  at  this  nick  of  time  brother  Daniel 
came  to  me,  fresh  from  the  old  home  back  in  Ala- 
bama to  try  his  luck  in  this  foreign,  and  as  some 
would  say,  God-forsaken  country.  I  had  been  care- 
ful in  all  my  letters  written  to  home  folk  not  to 
say  anything  that  would  encourage  any  one  to 
visit  this  country,  and  I  wrote  the  truth  too.  There 
were  too  many  uncertainties,  even  of  life  itself,  to 
take  the  risk  of  advising  others. 

Of  all  the  men  in  the  world  I  thought  more  of 
him  than  any  other  except  my  dear  father.  He  was 
eight  years  my  junior  lacking  a  few  days.  I  had 
taught  him  his  first  lessons  at  school,  and  it  became 
natural  for  him  to  seek  my  council  and  advice.  The 
seven  rules  previously  mentioned,  three  of  which 
I  had  broken,  were  easily  kept  by  him,  inviolate, 
without  knowing  of  their  existence  as  a  guide  to 
my  conduct.  We  had  both  been  raised  on  the 
same  farm,  and  each  one  knew  the  meaning  of 
the  word  "work."  Some  people  think  it  means  to 
"kill  time"  and  then  draw  full  pay  all  the  same, 
which  is  altogether  a  selfish  idea. 

In  a  few  days  we  took  a  trip  on  the  mountain  to 


90  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

see  the  condition  of  the  snow  in  that  locality.  It 
was  still  too  deep  to  reach  the  iceberg  though  all 
right  at  the  old  camping  place.  I  explained  the 
magnitude  of  the  enterprise,  and  that  I  could  offer 
him  fairly  good  wages  to  join  with  me  in  the  work, 
which  suited  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  The  cabin 
previously  built  was  all  right,  but  would  involve 
walking  some  distance  up  hill  to  reach  the  work. 
On  the  way  I  stopped  at  a  saw  mill  and  ordered 
800  feet  of  lumber  8x1,  10  feet  long  to  be  delivered 
at  a  designated  point  for  use  in  building  a  flue. 

One  week  on  the  supply  ditch  brought  us  to  a  cliff 
at  least  two  hundred  feet  high,  around  which  we 
had  to  build  a  curving  flue  four  hundred  feet,  in 
order  to  convey  the  water  to  ditch  building  ground 
beyond  it.  I  had  enquired  of  men  who  had  used 
flues  in  gulch  mining  and  they  told  me  it  would 
require  a  flue  two  feet  wide  and  one  foot  high, 
but  my  own  observation  taught  me  that  to  in- 
crease the  fall  of  the  current  would  diminish  the  size 
of  the  stream,  so  I  decided  to  give  it  five  inches 
to  the  ten  feet,  instead  of  one  inch.  On  the  basis 
of  this  assumption  I  decided  to  make  the  flue  eight 
inches  wide  and  seven  inches  high. 

These  same  parties  advised  me  that  if  the  flue 
was  much  crooked  I  had  better  get  a  good  car- 
penter to  build  it,  but  this  would  be  an  additional 
expense,  so  decided  to  do  the  work  myself  with 
the  assistance  of  my  brother.  It  occurred  to  me 
that  any  man  with  a  careful  steady  hand  could  saw 
one  piece  of  lumber  to  fit  another,  and  then  by 
tacking  them  together  with  small  nails,  there  could 
be  no  chance  for  the  leakage  of  water. 

After  making  a  winding  trail  about  two  mile 
long  I  hired  the  use  of  ten  small  pack  animals 
called  "burros,"  and  in  one  day  the  lumber  was 
conveyed  to  the  point  where  we  could  use  it,  at 
a  cost  of  even  $10.00,  and  cheap  at  that  price.  The 
most  difficult  part  of  the  work  consisted  in  put- 
ting in  the  trestle  around  the  cliff  so  as  to  give 
the  water  a  fall  of  exactly  five  inches  to  ten  feet. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  91 

But  I  still  had  the  triangle  to  use  for  that  purpose. 
It  was  often  necessary  to  moil  out  a  place  in  the 
rock  to  put  the  leg  of  the  trestle.  The  rock  below 
was  not  a  cliff,  but  it  was  very  precipitous  and 
made  it  dangerous  in  case  the  foot  was  to  slip.  It 
was  essential  to  be  very  cautious  in  every  move- 
ment. 

The  trestle  had  to  be  fastened  in  some  way  to 
the  cliff,  but  my  new  partner  in  the  work  was 
always  ready  to  assist  me  in  devising  some  plan 
to  meet  every  predicament,  which  would  be  too 
tedious  to  mention  in  detail.  Several  parties  had 
predicted  we  would  make  a  failure,  and  there  was 
some  doubt  on  my  own  part,  as  it  was  in  a  measure 
experimental.  By  leaving  off  one  section  of  the 
flue  near  the  objective  end,  so  the  water  could  run 
over  the  rocks  below  without  doing  any  damage, 
we  went  up  to  the  iceberg,  turned  on  the  water 
and  watched  results.  The  flue  leaked  a  little  at 
the  beginning,  but  as  soon  as  the  lumber  got  soaked 
with  water,  even  that  little  ceased. 

We  moved  camp  two  miles  nearer  Georgetown, 
and  it  seemed  like  getting  back  in  sight  of  civili- 
zation. With  plenty  of  cold  water  fresh  from  the 
iceberg  we  began  to  push  the  supply  ditch  which 
lacked  still  another  mile  of  being  on  the  top  comb 
of  Leavenworth  mountain.  It  was  our  usual  cus- 
tom to  visit  the  city  on  Saturday  evening  and  re- 
turn on  Sunday  evening.  During  one  of  these  visits 
I  met  my  old  friend  and  former  partner,  David 
Hersha. 

My  eyes  were  not  in  the  habit  of  deceiving  me, 
so  I  had  to  recognize  him  in  spite  of  his  changed 
appearance.  He  wore  a  new  suit  of  the  latest  style 
and  fashion,  a  dangling  gold  watch  chain  across  his 
vest,  a  fancy  necktie,  smooth  shaved  except  a  heavy 
gray  mustache,  and  a  broad  brim  hat  completed 
his  attire.  He  was  too  large  and  too  old  to  pass 
for  a  cow-boy,  so  he  might  be  rated  from  appear- 
ance as  a  typical  well-to-do  frontiersman. 

My  curiosity  led  me  to  inquire  of  him  in  regard 


92  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

to  all  this  evidence  of  prosperity.  He  seemed  a 
little  dilatory  about  telling,  but  finally  said:  "Burr 
and  myself  sold  the  Dives  to  John  McMurtry  for 
$1,000.00  each,  and  we  have  been  on  a  "high  lone- 
some" ever  since.  We  both  tried  to  get  you  to 
furnish  the  powder  and  grub  to  sink  it  ten  feet 
deeper  for  a  third  interest.  We  would  all  three  have 
been  rich  long  ago,  but  I  don't  blame  you  in  the 
least  for  no  one  can  tell  much  about  what  may 
be  below  out  of  sight,  and  that  is  why  we  decided 
to  sell.  It  was  my  fault  we  did  not  get  a  nice  little 
stake  out  of  the  King  David."  All  of  which  was 
quite  true. 

By  enquiry  I  learned  that  parties  were  then  sink- 
ing on  the  shaft,  and  the  mineral  more  than  paid 
expenses.  In  fact  when  the  shaft  was  seventy-five 
feet  deep  McMurtry  had  to  his  credit  $20,000.00 
without  doing  a  lick  of  work.  Another  shaft  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  east  was  being  sunk  with 
about  the  same  results.  McMurtry  a  short  time 
after  his  purchase  was  elected  Probate  Judge  of 
the  county  on  the  Republican  ticket,  by  a  majority 
of  two  votes,  but  he  failed  to  qualify  into  the 
office,  and  in  some  way  it  went  to  his  Democratic 
competitor. 

He  built  a  fine  $15,000  residence  and  his  parents 
came,  either  on  a  visit  or  to  live  with  him.  His 
mother  was  a  sister  to  Casius  M.  Clay  of  Ken- 
tucky, a  noted  politician  and  diplomat.  His  father 
was  an  able  minister  in  the  Episcopal  church.  I 
heard  him  preach  often  and  liked  his  style  of  ora- 
tory, also  his  liberal  manner  of  presenting  the  sub- 
ject. They  were  pleasant  people  to  meet,  social  and 
sympathetic  in  their  nature,  as  the  sequel  will 
show. 

During  the  next  few  months  I  lost  sight  of  my 
friend  Hersha,  in  fact  my  own  business  on  the 
mountain  absorbed  my  attention  to  the  exclusion 
of  nearly  everything  else.  In  due  course  of  time  we 
reached  the  crest  of  the  mountain  and  after  build- 
ing a  reservoir  commenced  the  process  of  making 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  93 

a  chasm  down  the  side,  directly  opposite  the  side  of 
the  mountain  to  the  Equator  mine.  It  was  over  a 
mile  down  to  the  creek  below,  and  the  road  was 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek,  so  there  was  no 
danger  of  damage  on  that  score.  The  prosperity  of 
the  country  depended  upon  the  discovery  and  de- 
velopment of  paying  mines,  so  many  others  as 
well  as  myself  were  hopeful  of  good  results. 

The  trouble  of  making  these  cuts  has  been  pre- 
viously explained,  but  it  was  even  more  trouble- 
some here  due  to  the  greater  depth  of  debris,  which 
had  been  a  barrier  to  prospectors  finding  mines, 
that  is  if  there  were  any  there.  We  could  look 
across  the  ravine  and  see  the  dump-piles  of  the 
Silver  Plume,  Dives,  Terrible  and  other  mines, 
while  the  Equator,  Colorado  Central,  O.  K.  and 
other  mining  property  were  in  another  direction 
but  equally  as  near. 

Here  was  an  area  of  three  square  miles  between 
these  prolific  mining  centers,  that  had  in  a  manner 
remained  untouched.  Our  business  was  to  uncover 
the  bedrock  and  solve  the  uncertainty,  and  then 
abide  the  consequences  whether  good  or  bad.  If 
the  munificent  hand  of  Nature  had  failed  to  put 
veins  of  mineral  in  this  special  part  of  the  earth, 
in  order  to  please  one  of  its  toiling  children,  it 
would  be  no  fault  of  mine,  nor  would  I  even  have 
the  prerogative  of  filing  a  bill  of  complaint,  in  case 
of  a  failure. 

While  making  this  out  Judge  Harmon  of  Miss- 
issippi paid  us  a  visit.  We  went  to  see  the  flue,  the 
iceberg,  and  the  cuts  made  the  previous  year,  and 
then  came  down  the  mountain  in  order  to  see 
a  boom  pass.  The  force  and  grandeur  of  a  swiftly 
moving  mass  down  a  steep  incline,  with  the  roar- 
ing sound  it  produces  is  simply  terrific  to  say  the 
least,  and  beyond  my  ability  to  describe.  I  was  an- 
xious for  the  Judge  to  see  the  sight.  He  was  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  man  from  Pope — more  home-like 
and  less  aristocratic.  On  taking  his  departure  he 
spoke  very  enthusiastically  of  our  enterprise,  an4 


94  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

said  to  write  him  long  letters,  and  when  in  need  of 
money  let  him  know ;  that  "sink  or  swim"  he  would 
stay  with  me  to  the  end. 

Would  some  one  be  unkind  enough  to  ask  if  we 
found  any  mineral?  If  so,  I  would  have  to  answer 
in  a  whisper —  "No,  not  a  speck,"  though  we  did 
find  some  good  "indications"  at  a  number  of  places. 
Selecting  the  best  one  in  appearance  we  decided  to 
prepare  for  winter  work,  just  as  I  had  one  year 
before,  but  this  time  not  in  the  range  of  bears  and 
lions.  Some  poor  fellow  following  a  forlorn  hope, 
no  doubt,  had  built  a  cabin  which  was  now  vacant, 
so  we  took  possession.  Of  course  we  had  to  visit 
the  iceberg  and  turn  off  the  water. 

Any  man  likes  to  see  the  fruits  of  his  labor  in 
whatever  vocation  he  may  follow.  This  is  natural 
and  commendable.  We  had  a  nice  comfortable  place 
to  work.  The  fissure  was  well  defined,  but  no  valua- 
ble ore  in  the  vein.  Perhaps  in  some  future  geolo- 
gical age  it  will  bear  fruit  in  the  shape  of  mineral, 
but  we  could  not  afford  to  wait.  At  a  depth  of  thirty 
or  forty  feet,  surrounded  by  deep  snow,  and  nearly 
out  of  rations,  we  stacked  our  arms,  threw  up  the 
sponge,  and  made  a  safe  retreat  to  the  cabin  down 
in  the  city. 

Here  we  found  Mr.  Webster  with  plenty  of  wood 
and  glad  to  see  us.  After  resting  a  few  days  Daniel 
said  he  would  like  to  work  on  some  of  the  already 
"ripe"  mines  bearing  fruit.  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  go 
with  him  in  the  beginning,  and  knowing  the  fore- 
man on  the  Dives  asked  him  to  give  us  a  job.  He 
said :  "I  can  give  you  a  night  shift  on  the  drift 
from  the  main  shaft.  We  will  meet  the  drift  from 
the  other  shaft  in  about  ten  days,  then  there  will 
be  a  change  in  the  program,  and  can  make  no  pro- 
mise beyond  that  time." 

On  my  part  I  felt  confident  that  with  my  know- 
ledge of  locating  and  charging  shots,  and  Daniel's 
brawny  arm  to  strike  the  drill,  we  could  make  a 
showing  equal  to  the  best  of  miners.  We  could 
easily  hear,  through  the  rock,  the  tapping  of  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  95 

hammer  made  by  the  men  on  the  other  side,  but  it 
so  happened  that  the  two  day  shifts  made  the 
opening. 

More  extensive  development  of  the  mine  required 
sinking  of  the  main  shaft  a  hundred  feet  deeper, 
and  the  foreman  wanted  to  put  his  best  men  to 
do  the  work,  and  Daniel  was  one  of  the  selected 
men.  He  didn't  know  how  to  get  tired  and  I  did, 
perhaps  that  was  the  cause  of  his  selection.  I  had 
noticed  that  small  pieces  of  ore  were  frequently 
sent  up  in  the  bucket  mixed  with  the  fine  rock,  so 
I  made  a  proposition  to  assist  at  the  windlass  on 
shaft  number  2,  without  pay,  if  allowed  to  empty 
the  bucket  on  the  edge  of  the  dump,  so  I  could 
pick  out  the  pieces  of  mineral  and  keep  them  as 
my  own. 

No  one  could  be  damaged  a  penny  by  this  deal 
Twice  each  day  I  put  the  ore  in  a  sack  under  my 
bunk  at  the  boarding  house.  When  filled  they 
weighed  about  a  hundred  pounds.  I  filled  one  sack 
every  two  days  and  sometimes  a  little  more.  They 
had  commenced  a  back-stope  over  the  drift,  which 
meant  an  increased  amount  of  mineral  to  my  part, 
for  they  did  not  know  how  to  save  it  all  like  Clark 
and  Crow  did  on  the  Terrible.  Some  of  the  boys 
called  the  foreman's  attention  to  the  "land  office 
business"  I  was  doing.  He  was  afraid  the  company 
would  hear  that  he  was  not  careful  in  saving  the 
mineral,  so  he  decided  to  put  me  on  the  back-stope 
as  long  as  I  knew  so  much  about  saving  mineral, 
but  not  being  an  obedient  servant  I  refused  to  be 
"put." 

The  mineral  in  this  mine  was  worth  about 
$700.00  per  ton,  which  means  a  little  over  30  cents 
a  pound  and  I  had  saved  seven  sacks  in  ten  or 
eleven  days.  This  little  incident  shows  what  "fickle 
fortune"  can  do  for  a  man  taking  his  chances  in 
the  mines.  Instead  of  owning  a  third  interest  in 
this  mine,  by  a  proposition  that  stood  open  to  me 
for  two  long  years,  I  was  refused  the  privilege  of 
gleaning  the  buckets  of  rock  as  they  were  emptied 


96  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

over  the  dump  pile.  Such  is  life,  and  the  man  that 
kicks  hurts  no  one  but  himself.  The  mill  man,  how- 
ever, paid  me  $181.00  for  the  seven  sacks  of  ore, 
and  this  eased  my  feelings  in  a  measure  for  the 
loss  of  a  good  paying  job,  which  by  rights  be- 
longed to  me  by  contract. 

During  these  ten  days  while  working  at  the 
windlass  an  incident  occurred  worth  mention.  Bro- 
ther Daniel  and  his  partner  were  in  the  main  shaft 
then  about  eighty-five  feet  deep,  when  the  bucket 
filled  with  rock  had  nearly  reached  the  top,  from 
some  cause  the  iron  crank  of  the  windlass  broke, 
and  the  whole  thing  fell  back  in  the  shaft.  It  was 
a  mystery  to  me  how  they  escaped,  but  neither  of 
them  were  hurt.  They  were  standing  in  opposite 
corners  watching  the  bucket  when  it  started  back, 
but  a  six-foot  windlass  made  it  much  more  dan- 
gerous. 

At  that  time,  just  across  a  depression  or  small 
gulch,  and  about  three  hundred  feet  west  of  the 
Dives,  parties  were  working  a  mine  called  Pelican. 
While  this  mine  was  not  so  prolific,  yet  is  was  a 
paying  mine  and  same  character  of  ore,  and  a 
strong  probability  that  they  were  the  same  vein. 
Attention  is  called  to  this  fact  now  in  order  to  un- 
derstand the  relations  of  the  two  mines  when  re- 
ferred to  further  along.  The  Pelican  was  discovered 
by  a  prospector  named  Stewart,  who  lived  alone  in 
a  cabin  of  his  own  not  far  from  the  mine,  and  it 
goes  without  saying  that  we  were  on  the  best 
terms  of  friendship.  I  would  tell  how  near  I  came 
to  owning  a  half  interest  in  this  mine,  but  it  might 
look  as  though  I  were  writing  fairy  tales  instead 
of  realities.  He  sold  out  to  a  man  named  McNiff 
and  went  back  to  the  States,  and  no  doubt  did  a 
wise  thing. 

It  had  now  been  six  months  or  more  since  I 
had  seen  my  old  partner  Hersha,  had  been  too  busy 
to  keep  track  of  him.  I  wanted  to  tell  him  about 
working  on  the  Dives  and  its  wonderful  produc- 
tion, but  he  was  not  on  the  streets  nor  could  any 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  97 

of  his  butterfly  friends  tell  me  where  he  was.  On 
entering  his  cabin  I  found  him  on  his  rustic  bunk, 
without  fire  or  wood  to  make  one.  The  black  dirt 
floor  was  as  innocent  of  a  broom  as  it  well  could 
be,  and  to  my  mind  presented  an  unhealthy  con- 
dition. 

In  answering  my  inquiry,  said  he  did  not  feel 
well,  though  perhaps  would  be  up  in  a  day  or  two ; 
but  I  knew  on  taking  hold  of  his  hand  that  he  had 
a  fever,  and  told  him  he  must  have  a  doctor  and 
further  attention.  The  physician  gave  instructions 
in  regard  to  the  medicine  he  prescribed,  and  told 
me  privately  that  he  was  in  a  bad  fix,  though  agreed 
that  I  might  bring  him  a  poached  egg,  a  cup  of 
coffee  or  nearly  anything  he  felt  like  eating.  I 
got  Mr.  Webster  to  stay  with  him  most  of  the 
night. 

Next  day  in  the  forenoon  I  met  an  elderly  lady 
at  the  door  of  Hersha's  cabin.  Two  gray  curls  be- 
decked her  massive  forehead,  and  from  her  dis- 
tinguished appearance  she  might  have  been  the 
counterpart  of  Queen  Victoria.  She  asked  if  this 
was  where  Mr.  Hersha  lived,  and  said  she  was  the 
mother  of  John  McMurtry,  that  the  doctor  had  told 
her  Mr.  Hersha  needed  more  comfortable  quar- 
ters and  special  attention.  That  the  object  of  her 
visit  was  to  request  someone,  if  he  was  willing,  to 
place  him  in  a  nice  room,  with  a  carpet  on  it,  at 
some  boarding  house  or  hotel,  and  present  the  bill 
of  expense  to  her. 

At  first  he  refused  to  make  the  change,  but  be- 
fore night  he  was  in  a  cozy  room,  and  I  went  to 
see  the  lady  and  report  what  had  been  done.  She 
went  with  me  at  once  to  his  new  quarters  and 
spoke  to  him  very  kindly.  She  directed  that  two 
men  nurses  be  employed,  one  for  night,  and  one 
for  day,  men  that  could  talk  cheerfully  as  well  as 
wait  on  him,  and  then  ordered  all  bills  of  expense 
be  presented  to  her  for  payment.  Of  course  she 
knew  he  was  the  original  discoverer  of  the  Dives 
mine.  With  all  the  care  and  attention  that  a  man 


98  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

could  receive,  yet  in  a  short  time  the  spirit  of 
David  Hersha  took  its  flight  across  the  great  di- 
vide, and  he  was  gathered  to  the  land  of  his  fathers. 

Some  one  has  said  that  Opportunity  knocks  at 
least  one  time  at  every  man's  door.  I  am  confident 
she  knocked  at  my  door  not  less  than  a  thousand 
times  but  I  never  found  it  out  until  she  had  left 
for  parts  unknown.  While  dame  Fortune  is  always 
with  her,  yet  it  takes  courage  and  quickness  of 
thought  to  say  "walk  in  ladies."  Though  I  discarded 
my  chances  of  ownership  in  'both  the  Dives  and 
Pelican,  in  some  strange  way  there  was  left  a  feel- 
ing of  identity  in  these  two  mines.  They  seemed  to 
me  a  part  of  my  mining  experience  and  prospecting 
life  in  the  mountains.  This  feeling  is  my  excuse 
for  telling  a  few  incidents  connected  with  these 
mines  before  hanging  up  the  receiver  on  that  sub- 
ject. 

The  Pelican  was  recorded  a  short  time  before 
the  Dives,  though  the  latter  was  some  two  years 
previous  in  point  of  discovery,  due  to  these  facts 
there  was  talk  on  both  sides  of  serving  injunctions, 
and  even  a  conflict  of  a  more  violent  character  was 
threatened.  There  was  enough  mineral  in  sight  to 
make  both  claimants  immensely  rich  if  a  peace 
basis  could  be  established.  McMurtry  did  not  feel 
any  too  safe  in  the  legal  rights  of  his  valuable 
property,  so  concluded  to  use  a  little  of  that  diplo- 
macy inherited  from  his  uncle  Casius  Clay. 

It  had  been  decided  by  the  Catholics  to  build  a 
church,  and  of  course  it  must  be  finer  than  any 
other  in  the  city.  Arrangements  were  made  to  hold 
a  fair  at  the  big  new  hotel,  and  a  gold  watch  was 
to  be  given  to  the  most  popular  young  lady,  and  a 
gold  headed  cane  to  the  most  popular  young  man. 
Everybody  was  cordially  invited,  and  a  great  many 
attended,  including  myself,  for  I  wanted  to  see 
how  it  was  done,  and  also  see  the  excitement.  The 
voting  was  lively  enough,  though  in  rather  a  small 
way  until  McMurtry  picked  out  one  of  the  girls, 
drew  his  check  for  $500.00  and  cast  that  many  votes 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  99 

for  her.  This  was  a  kind  of  signal  gun  that  a  more 
extensive  business  was  about  to  open. 

The  McNiff  party  soon  got  together  and  concen- 
trated on  a  certain  one  and  then  the  fun  began, 
which  would  cost  some  money.  The  best  of  good 
feeling  and  sociability  prevailed.  They  knew  that 
McMurtry  had  a  barrel  of  money,  and  they  began 
to  gather  round  him  like  he  was  a  hero.  They  knew 
his  father  was  a  minister  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
a  kind  of  half-sister  to  the  Catholic,  and  not  much 
difference  on  that  score. 

Voting  continued  for  an  hour  or  two  in  $500.00 
blocks  until  McMurtry  had  spent  $3,000.00.  Libera- 
lity, however,  has  its  limitation,  Mr.  McNiff  an- 
nounced that  the  voting  on  the  most  popular  young 
lady  was  the  one  selected  by  Mr.  McMurtry,  and 
that  he  was  now  requested  to  make  the  presenta- 
tion speech,  which  he  did  in  a  very  graceful,  plea- 
sant manner.  He  took  the  occasion  during  his  re- 
marks to  allude  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country, 
and  suggested  that  in  a  measure  it  depended  upon 
the  peace  and  harmony  of  all  the  citizens,  which, 
by  the  way,  had  a  very  happy  effect  on  all  present. 

In  a  short  time,  as  McMurtry  had  no  opponent 
as  the  most  popular  man,  the  gold-headed  cane 
was  presented  to  him  in  a  nice  speech  made  by 
McNiff,  in  which  he  said  the  good  of  the  country 
demanded  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  and  as  the 
war  between  the  States  was  now  over  and  peace 
declared,  we  were  also  entitled  to  peace  in  all  our 
business  affairs  of  life.  It  was  the  general  impres- 
sion, as  an  aftermath  to  the  fair,  that  the  two  Mc's 
got  together  and  agreed  that  each  one  would  stay 
on  his  own  side  of  the  fence,  although  a  fine  sec- 
tion of  ore  might  stand  between  the  two  claim- 
ants. 

Discord  and  confusion  had  subsided  and  while 
everything  was  moving  quietly  McMurtry  formed 
business  relations  back  East.  It  is  a  little  sin- 
gular that  all  rich  men  want  to  travel  toward  the 
East,  and  sometimes  still  further  in  that  direction. 


100  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

Perhaps  they  want  to  find  other  rich  men  to  asso- 
ciate with,  like  birds  of  a  feather  seeking  others 
of  the  same  kind.  News  soon  reached  us  that  he  had 
married  a  niece  of  Vice  President  Colfax,  and  he 
was  expected  to  introduce  his  bride,  to  the  fascina- 
ting charms  of  Western  civilization.  But  with  an 
income  of  $50,000.00  per  day,  Georgetown  was  only 
an  obscure  mining  village  and  had  lost  its  former 
attractions. 

In  1868,  Gen.  Grant,  the  nominee  of  the  Republi- 
can party  for  President,  along  with  Gen.  Sherman, 
spent  a  whole  week  in  Georgetown,  either  resting 
or  hiding  out  from  the  numerous  toadies.  They 
were  dressed  in  ordinary  citizens'  clothes,  and  if 
much  attention  was  paid  to  them  it  was  more  than 
I  could  see.  This  may  be  one  of  the  reasons  why 
they  stayed  so  long. 

During  Gen.  Grant's  candidacy  for  a  second  term 
in  1872  he  paid  us  another  visit,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  daughter,  also  other  attendants  too 
numerous  to  mention.  They  came  up  from  Denver 
in  carriages,  and  hours  before  their  arrival  three 
or  four  cannon  (blacksmith  anvils)  gave  notice  to 
the  miners  out  in  the  mountains  that  something 
unusual  was  happening.  As  a  result  some  four  or 
five  thousand  people  were  on  the  streets  to  give  a 
vociferous  welcome  to  the  distinguished  party. 
Quite  a  difference  from  his  former  visit ! 

It  was  the  current  report,  and  generally  accepted 
as  true,  that  the  President  owned  a  tenth  interest 
in  the  Dives,  and  if  so  his  dividend  was  not  less 
than  $5,000.00  per  day.  The  Dives  and  the  Pelican, 
no  doubt  the  same  vein,  were  producing  more  silver 
by  far  than  any  other  mine  in  the  whole  Mountain 
Range,  or  even  in  the  world,  at  that  time.  It  was 
more  important,  financially,  to  own  a  small  in- 
terest in  a  mine  of  this  character  than  to  be  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  As  for  honor,  Grant 
had  all  of  that  commodity  he  needed.  To  receive 
the  surrender  of  Gen.  Lee,  the  greatest  military 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  101 

chieftain  in  modern  warfare,  was  honor  enough 
for  any  one  man. 

Silver  at  this  time  was  worth  $1.29  per  ounce, 
and  on  par  with  gold,  and  both  at  a  premium  above 
greenbacks.  The  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of 
both  metals,  16  to  1,  caused  the  Government  to  be 
the  principal  purchaser.  The  Treasury  Department 
had  to  build  a  big  rock  house  in  Washington  City 
to  hold  the  silver  dollars,  and  before  Congress 
could  stop  the  unlimited  coinage  four  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars  was  stacked  away  in  this  building.  It 
is  still  there  and  will  be  for  many  years  to 
come.  The  people  refused  to  use  it  as  a  circulating 
medium  because  it  was  too  heavy  according  to 
value.  Yet  a  man  named  Bryan  made  an  ass  of  the 
Democratic  party  for  twelve  long  years.  By  a  little 
flowery  speech  of  his  they  were  led  to  advocate 
the  unreasonable  policy  of  unlimited  coinage  of 
silver,  which  caused  their  continued  defeat. 

About  this  time,  1872,  there  were  a  number  of 
mines  in  this  section,  perhaps  a  dozen  or  more, 
producing  a  liberal  quantity  of  silver  and  it  was  a 
prevailing  idea  among  the  miners  that  the  white 
metal  would  soon  be  as  plentiful  as  copper  if  not 
more  abundant.  Gen.  Grant  told  some  of  the  miners 
in  conversation  that  they  held  the  keys  to  unlock 
the  secret  vaults,  and  from  their  treasury  deposits 
we  could  pay  off  the  national  debt. 

When  a  big  howling  crowd  called  for  him  in 
front  of  the  hotel  he  made  his  appearance  on  the 
balcony  or  veranda  of  the  hotel,  but  no  speech.  His 
friend,  Frank  Blair,  of  Missouri,  took  his  place 
and  said  a  great  many  nice  things  for  him,  but 
nothing  that  pleased  them  half  so  well  as  the  little 
metaphor  of  their  holding  the  keys  of  the  hidden 
vaults.  It  is  a  noted  fact  that  no  great  military 
leader  in  either  ancient  or  modern  times  could 
make  a  speech  before  the  public;  in  fact  they  are 
not  fit  for  anything  else  only  to  arrange  men  in 
the  best  possible  position  so  they  can  kill  each 
other. 


102  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

A  few  more  events,  of  rather  a  sad  character, 
will  be  mentioned  and  then  I  will  bid  adieu  to  the 
Dives  and  Pelican  mines.  Men  that  "get  rich  quick" 
have  to  see  many  things  all  at  once  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible, in  order  to  talk  fluently  and  knowingly  with 
other  rich  men  when  they  meet  them.  For  this  and 
other  purposes  the  Mc's  were  "over  the  hills  and 
far  away."  They  had  left  their  mining  interest  in 
the  hands  of  skillful  managers.  At  first  there  was 
only  a  spirit  of  friendly  rivalry,  but  it  was  followed 
by  ill  feeling  and  animosity  between  the  two  par- 
ties. 

While  traveling  in  some  of  the  Western  States 
McMurtry  stopped  at  some  fashionable  resort.  He 
was  very  temperate  in  his  habits.  On  this  occasion 
he  drank  a  glass  of  cold  lemonade.  As  a  result  in- 
flamation  of  peritoneum  caused  his  death  three  days 
later.  He  was  carried  back  to  his  Kentucky  home 
and  buried  among  his  kindred.  He  had  very  few, 
if  any,  enemies. 

Standing  on  the  street,  Saturday  evening  I  saw 
two  men  riding  rapidly  down  the  graded  road  not 
two  hundred  yards  distant.  The  one  in  the  rear, 
named  Bishop,  and  manager  of  the  Dives  mine, 
was  firing  his  pistol  at  the  one  in  front,  named 
Snyder,  and  manager  of  the  Pelican.  On  entering 
the  wide  door  of  the  livery  stable,  being  much 
nearer  each  other,  a  ball  pierced  his  brain  and  Sny- 
der fell  dead  on  the  spot.  Bishop  reloaded  his  pistol 
and  quietly  rode  back  up  the  road,  no  one  attempt- 
ing to  arrest  him.  I  knew  both  men  well,  and  was 
one  of  the  jury  holding  an  inquest  over  the  body. 
All  work  ceased  on  the  mines  and  in  a  short  time 
they  were  tied  up  in  litigation. 

After  this  rather  lengthy  disgression  I  will  try  to 
return  to  the  main  subject  and  take  up  the  thread 
where  it  was  left.  It  was  yet  mid-winter  and  I  spent 
part  of  the  ensuing  month  cultivating  the  art  of 
playing  billiards,  and  enjoying  a  few  of  the  social 
features  of  life.  It  is  quite  a  relief  from  the  toil- 
ing pursuits  occasionally  to  put  off  the  garb  of  a 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  103 

miner  and  change  to  a  nice  suit  of  citizens'  cloth- 
ing, especially  if  money  resources  give  one  a  fel- 
ing  of  easiness.  A  change  came  over  the  "spirit  of 
my  dreams"  and  I  began  to  realize  it  might  require 
many  years  to  reach  the  object  I  had  in  view.  My 
idea  of  the  two  words  "money-plenty"  meant  not 
less  than  a  million  dollars  with  still  more  in  sight, 
rather  visionary  ideas,  no  doubt  of  that. 

For  some  adequate  cause  Daniel  quit  his  job  and 
resting  a  few  days,  bought  a  half  interest  in  the 
King  David  mine  at  a  public  sale  of  the  property, 
paying  only  a  nominal  price.  Being  equal  owners, 
we  at  once  commenced  a  cross-cut  or  tunnel,  to 
strike  the  vein  a  hundred  feet  deep  and  about  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  west  of  the  shaft  which  was  fifty 
feet  deep.  In  a  few  days  we  were  out  of  the  weather 
and  had  a  nice  place  to  work.  We  moved  part  of 
our  effects  up  to  a  house  owned  and  occupied  by 
Dr.  Guthrie,  and  only  a  short  distance  below  our 
tunnel. 

In  a  social  way  I  had  known  the  Doctor  and  his 
partner  Ulhorn  for  over  a  year.  They  were  both 
highly  educated.  Their  parents  had  given  them 
$2,000.00  each,  no  doubt  with  a  hope  they  would 
lead  brilliant  careers,  one  as  a  doctor  the  other  as 
a  lawyer.  They  came  to  Georgetown,  spent  part  of 
their  effects  in  purchasing  a  mine  called  Alhambra, 
about  a  thousand  feet  west  of  the  King  David.  At 
first  they  took  out  some  mineral  that  paid  expen- 
ses, but  like  many  other  mines  it  soon  played  out. 
Spending  the  balance  of  their  means  in  a  vain 
effort  of  restoring  it  to  life,  they  continued  to  work 
themselves. 

Too  proud  to  write  home  for  money,  the  Doctor 
answered  professional  calls,  which  kept  them  in 
supplies,  often  leaving  his  partner  in  the  mine  to 
work  by  himself.  Returning  home  one  day  to  his 
sorrow  and  surprise  he  found  Ulhorn  dead  in  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft.  The  supposition  was  that  his 
foot  slipped  in  climbing  the  ladder,  but  the  Doctor 
intimated  that  a  certain  man  may  have  knocked 


104  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

him  in  the  head  just  as  he  reached  the  top  of  the 
shaft,  which  was  nearly  a  hundred  feet  deep.  I 
mention  this  little  episode  which  shows  that  others 
as  well  as  myself  had  a  hard  time  contending  with 
the  uncertainties  of  mining  ventures.  I  could  men- 
tion the  names  of  half  dozen  men  with  diplomas 
from  some  college  who  in  the  garb  of  miners  were 
trying  to  obtain  the  favors  of  Fickle  Fortune. 

About  the  middle  of  April  1871,  entirely  un- 
expected, our  brother  Shep  made  his  appearance. 
The  Doctor  had  accumulated  a  little  surplus  and 
hired  Daniel  to  work  with  him  on  his  mine,  and 
Daniel  in  turn  hired  Shep  to  work  with  me.  In 
less  than  a  week  after  leaving  home  he  was  strik- 
ing a  drill  with  an  eight-pound  hammer,  but  he 
was  a  chip  off  the  same  block  and  proved  him- 
self equal  to  the  occasion.  Fortunately  we  found  a 
"muck  seam"  leading  in  the  same  direction  of  the 
tunnel.  It  was  a  feeder  or  spur  from  the  King 
David.  By  removing  the  soft  material  with  a  pick 
we  could  locate  the  shots,  so  they  would  do  twice 
as  much  work  as  they  would  have  done  without 
the  seam. 

It  was  nearly  time  to  commence  work  on  the 
top  of  Leavenworth  mountain  for  the  snow  dis- 
appears, even  from  this  crested  point,  fully  a  month 
earlier  than  up  around  the  iceberg.  We  suspended 
work  on  the  tunnel  after  a  week  or  ten  days  and 
in  a  short  time  began  building  reservoirs  and 
making  ready  to  use  the  water  as  soon  as  it  could 
be  turned  into  the  supply  ditch.  It  was  my  inten- 
tion this  year  to  either  "make  a  spoon  or  spoil  a 
horn."  I  had  located  the  previous  year  places  to 
make  six  more  cuts  on  that  side  of  the  mountain, 
and  was  anxious  to  complete  the  work  during  the 
ensuing  season. 

In  a  month  we  had  three  reservoirs  about  com- 
pleted. Digging  the  ditch  was  hard  enough  work 
to  suit  the  brawny  muscles  of  any  man,  but  the 
two  or  three  days  required  in  tracing  the  water  to 
start  the  boom  tested  my  endurance  and  patience 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  105 

more  than  anything  else  encountered,  except  driv- 
ing ten  oxen  in  a  drifting  sand  storm  on  the  desert. 
It  generally  required  a  week  or  ten  days  to  make 
one  of  these  long  cuts  but  the  labor  was  over 
after  the  first  two  or  three  days  as  there  was 
nothing  to  do  only  to  raise  the  gate  when  the  re- 
servoir was  full,  which  was  about  once  every 
hour. 

The  water  was  kept  busy  all  the  time.  As  fast 
as  one  cut  was  finished  another  reservoir  was 
ready.  There  were  barely  four  months  of  the  year 
that  water  was  available  for  our  purposes,  and  we 
could  not  afford  to  take  much  time  to  dig  and  de- 
velop the  various  "indications"  we  saw  in  the 
different  cuts,  which  could  be  done  later  just  as 
well.  I  was  anxious  to  find  a  big  rich  mine  sticking 
up  through  the  bed  rock,  but  this  was  only  a  vi- 
sionary wish  not  to  be  realized;  in  fact  my  luck 
was  not  built  that  way. 

We  had  deferred  making  the  last  cut  on  purpose. 
I  knew  from  the  lay  of  the  ground  that  it  would 
be  a  deep  one  and  perhaps  cause  some  damage  to 
certain  property  on  the  creek  below,  though  it 
might  not.  Anticipating  extra  work,  we  built  a 
much  larger  reservoir  than  the  others.  We  turned 
in  all  the  water  the  iceberg  produced  as  it  was 
growing  late  in  the  season,  yet  it  required  over 
two  hours  to  fill  ready  to  turn  loose.  The  debris  of 
this  particular  place  was  composed  mostly  of  sand 
and  boulders,  more  so  than  at  other  places. 

The  indigenous  rock  of  the  country  is  granite, 
and  this  is  the  case  up  to  the  top  of  the  range  or 
continental  divide.  I  have  been  on  or  near  this 
range  for  three  or  four  hundred  miles,  and  the 
same  kind  of  rocks  exist  all  along.  I  had  noticed 
in  the  different  cuts  that  sand  and  boulders  reached 
a  certain  altitude  and  there  was  none  above  that 
point,  which  indicates  that  they  were  deposited 
there  during  some  great  glacial  period.  But  the 
question  might  be  asked,  where  did  they  come 
from?  Possibly  this  great  mountain  range  was 


106  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

once  much  higher,  and  from  these  heights  were 
sent  both  sand  and  glacier. 

This  last  "boom"  of  that  season  was  a  record 
breaker  in  more  respects  than  one,  as  it  caused 
some  trouble  from  damage,  and  in  turn  gave  rise 
to  a  small  future  profit,  which  I  will  tell  about  fur- 
ther along.  In  the  first  place  it  was  much  easier 
to  get  under  head-way  than  others  had  been.  We 
moved  our  tent  down  to  the  reservoir,  and  at  night 
built  up  a  good  fire  so  as  to  raise  the  gate  both 
day  and  night,  and  even  then  it  required  a  whole 
week  to  sweep  out  to  the  bed  rock. 

When  the  water  was  turned  loose  it  quickly 
mixed  with  sand,  gravel  and  boulders  some  of  them 
as  large  as  a  hogshead,  and  produced  a  scene  of 
terrific  grandeur  beyond  my  power  of  description. 
This  volume  of  moving  slush-like  material  in  a 
channel  down  the  side  of  a  mountain  meant  de- 
struction to  everything  in  its  way.  Trees  as  big  as 
a  man's  body  falling  in  the  chasm  were  torn  into 
fragments  by  the  time  they  reached  the  foot  of  the 
mountain.  It  caused  a  roaring  sound  like  distant 
thunder,  and  people  from  the  city  came  out  on  the 
road  opposite  the  creek  to  see  the  sight.  The  depth 
of  the  cut  depended  upon  the  distance  to  the  bed- 
rock. In  places  it  was  forty  feet  deep  and  a  hun- 
dred feet  wide. 

From  the  beginning  I  had  known  it  was  dan- 
gerous to  enter  these  cuts,  but  we  were  anxious  to 
find  out  the  results  of  our  labor.  Toward  the  foot 
of  the  mountain  we  found  uncovered  an  unusual 
large  "indication"  that  might  be  a  big  mine  when 
developed,  so  we  spent  two  or  three  hours  with 
pick  and  shovel  expecting  to  return  in  a  few  days. 
When  nearly  at  the  top  of  the  cut,  being  a  little 
in  front  of  Shep,  I  noticed  the  bank  was  crumbling 
under  a  large  boulder,  in  fact  it  was  already  mov- 
ing. I  shouted  to  him  vigorously  to  look  out.  He 
leaped  up  against  the  side  of  the  bank  and  during 
this  nick  of  time  the  boulder  passed  under  instead 
of  over  him,  indeed  a  very  great  difference. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  107 

The  creek  was  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  with  a  gradual  sloping  of  the 
ground,  yet  the  boulders  came  down  with  such 
force  that  they  bounded  across  the  space  and  filled 
the  creek,  along  with  sand  and  gravel  to  a  depth 
of  five  or  six  feet,  which  unfortunately  drowned  a 
turbine  wheel  that  furnished  the  power  to  run  a 
big  quartz  mill.  Of  course  this  had  to  be  removed 
or  the  mill  would  be  of  no  further  service.  It  was 
not  my  intention  to  dodge  or  evade  the  conse- 
quences, so  I  went  to  see  the  owner  of  the  mill.  At 
first  he  was  very  indignant,  and  was  going  to  bring 
suit  for  damage.  I  let  him  talk  all  he  wished,  know- 
ing one  man  can't  quarrel  by  himself  very  long. 

When  the  wrath  was  removed  from  his  system 
so  he  could  talk  business  I  said  to  him :  "General, 
I  regret  very  much  the  damage  to  your  property, 
but  you  can't  make  anything  out  of  me  by  bring- 
ing suit,  simply  because  I  have  nothing  in  the 
world  except  a  dozen  or  more  "indications",  which 
it  would  be  improper  to  call  mines,  located  on  the 
mountain  above  your  mill.  Each  might  contain  one 
of  the  golden  eggs  that  the  traditional  goose  laid, 
but  as  yet  they  are  only  granite  rocks  and  of  no 
value.  If  you  will  furnish  me  with  $300.00  I  will 
hire  men  and  remove  those  boulders  and  pay  you 
back  two  dollars  for  one  out  of  the  first  ore  I  deli- 
ver to  your  mill." 

To  this  proposition,  and  much  more  that  was 
said,  he  answered  by  saying:  "Young  man  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  the  rainbow  hue  in  your  talk,  but 
you  seem  to  be  willing  to  do  the  fair  thing,  so  I  am 
going  to  give  you  a  chance,  though  I  want  to  say  at 
the  outset,  in  my  opinion,  it  will  take  more  money 
than  you  think,  even  if  it  can  be  done  at  all."  He 
went  with  me  to  the  bank  and  placed  to  my  credit 
$300.00  to  be  used  for  that  purpose.  This  was 
Friday  and  the  next  day  I  went  among  the  labor- 
ing class  and  by  an  offer  of  $5.00  per  day  selected 
six  men  to  help  me  do  the  work. 

On  going  to  a  blacksmith  and  telling  him  what  I 


108  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

wanted  to  do  he  made  me  two  grappling  hooks 
with  handles  five  feet  long  so  as  to  give  leverage 
power,  also  five  crowbars  of  the  same  length.  We 
bought  seven  pairs  of  rubber  boots  that  fastened 
with  a  belt  around  the  waist.  On  Monday  morning 
we  commenced  the  work  which  was  a  big  job,  no 
doubt,  but  it  looked  bigger  than  it  really  was.  The 
plan  adopted  was  to  make  the  water  help  do  the 
work  as  much  as  possible,  and  to  do  this  the  water 
was  reduced  to  a  smaller  channel.  The  bed  of  the 
creek  was  solid  rock,  and  sometimes  three  or  four 
boulders  would  be  moving  down  the  creek  at  the 
same  time,  followed  up  by  as  many  men  with  their 
crowbars  to  keep  them  moving. 

In  a  measure  it  was  like  fun,  though  hard  work 
and  in  the  cold  water  all  the  time.  The  owner  of 
the  mill  passed  by  nearly  every  day  to  look  at  the 
work  but  said  nothing.  His  idea  was  to  rig  up  a 
derrick  run  by  a  steam  engine,  but  to  do  it  that 
way  might  cost  several  thousand  dollars.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  fourth  day  the  turbine  wheel  was 
ready  to  do  its  usual  work.  I  had  paid  $50.00  for 
the  rubber  boots,  but  in  paying  off  the  men  I  made 
them  a  present  of  the  boots.  I  drew  the  mill  owner 
a  check  for  the  balance  yet  in  the  bank  to  my  credit 
charging  nothing  for  my  own  labor. 

It  might  be  said  that  this  was  one  way  of  settling 
a  lawsuit,  and  many  others  might  be  settled  in 
the  same  way  by  using  a  few  sober  thoughts  in 
the  beginning.  I  fully  expected  some  day  before 
long  to  pay  back  the  money  as  promised.  It  has 
been  my  effort  not  to  give  too  much  space  to  events 
of  this  character,  and  with  this  object  in  view  have 
left  out  most  of  the  details,  yet  they  are  inter- 
woven with  the  many  tribulations  of  my  moun- 
tain life  to  such  an  extent  that  at  least  a  few  of 
them  ought  to  be  mentioned. 

Spending  a  few  days  in  Georgetown,  in  order  to 
catch  my  breath  before  renewing  my  investigation 
of  discoveries  in  the  various  cuts,  I  was  forcibly 
reminded  that  the  summer  season  was  over.  Less 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  109 

than  a  half  mile  up  the  mountain  on  each  side  of 
the  city  a  rather  spectacular  view  presented  itself. 
Looking  out  one  morning  the  snow  three  or  four 
inches  deep  could  be  seen  down  to  a  certain  alti- 
tude, and  below  that  line  the  conditions  of  summer 
tended  up  and  down  the  valley  as  far  as  the  eyes 
still  prevailed.  These  two  horizontal  snow  lines  ex- 
could  see.  This  was  one  way  old  Borreas  had  of 
sending  his  signal  that  the  country  belonged  to  him 
for  the  next  eight  months.  Quite  likely  a  foot  of 
snow  was  around  the  iceberg  at  this  time,  but  for- 
tunately the  water  was  turned  off. 

To  our  great  surprise  and  delight  Daniel  returned 
from  the  Stephens  mine  where  he  had  been  work- 
ing for  the  past  several  months.  This  property  is 
located  immediately  under  the  apex  of  the  Gray's 
Peak  which  by  measurement  is  fifty  feet  higher 
than  Pikes'  Peak,  and  perhaps  one  of  the  highest 
silver  mines  in  the  world,  being  14,000  feet  in  alti- 
tude. They  had  been  paying  him  $5.00  per  day  and 
board,  for  none  but  the  best  miners  were  wanted, 
and  those  aclimated  to  a  light  atmosphere  were 
the  only  ones  that  could  stand  the  hardships  and 
do  good  work.  They  were  drifting  on  the  vein, 
taking  out  some  nice  mineral,  and  gaining  a  foot 
in  depth  from  the  surface  above,  for  every  foot 
advanced  on  the  drift. 

At  the  breast  of  the  drift,  between  four  or  five 
hundred  feet  from  its  entrance,  there  was  a  kind 
of  frozen  dirt  with  some  ice  in  it  resembling  hard- 
pan,  and  possibly  containing  sand  and  gravel.  In 
order  to  reach  the  mine  a  much  nearer  way  from 
the  boarding  house,  they  held  on  to  a  rope  around 
a  big  high  cliff.  If  there  had  been  no  other  silver 
in  the  world  only  in  this  mine,  and  it  devolved  upon 
me  to  get  it  out,  the  supply  of  white  metal  would 
have  been  completely  cut  off.  But  some  men  can 
do  with  ease  things  dangerous  to  others. 

The  most  astonishing  thing  of  all  was  the  an- 
nouncement made  by  Shep  that  he  had  seen  enough 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  intended  to  return 


110  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

to  his  native  home.  In  making  a  calculation  he 
would  be  able  to  go  back  and  have  $100.00  more 
than  he  left  with.  Neither  of  us  presumed  to  give 
him  advice  one  way  or  the  other.  There  was  an  ele- 
ment of  risk  and  uncertainty  connected  with  every 
venture  in  this  country,  so  we  thought  it  best  to 
leave  each  one  free  to  decide  for  himself,  and  there 
would  be  no  one  to  blame  for  any  bad  results. 

As  we  wanted  to  rest  awhile  before  commencing 
work  again  on  our  tunnel  to  strike  the  King  David 
I  concluded  to  learn  how  to  make  an  assay  to  de- 
termine the  value  of  metal  which  had  been  my  in- 
tention for  some  time.  I  had  been  talking  with  a 
man  named  Nichol  who  was  willing  to  teach  me 
and  also  allow  me  the  use  of  his  furnace,  for  $10.00. 
It  may  be  a  little  tedious  to  tell  the  process  but 
it  is  worth  knowing,  and  a  thing  every  prospector 
ought  to  know.  There  is  no  way  of  finding  out 
what  a  piece  of  mineral  contains  only  by  a  crucial 
test. 

An  assay  furnace  is  made  of  fireclay  and  about 
the  size  and  shape  of  a  twenty-gallon  keg,  and  is 
usually  kept  at  the  same  heat  about  two  hours  in 
order  to  complete  the  assay,  though  several  may 
be  made  at  the  same  time.  It  requires  careful  ma- 
nipulation to  make  an  accurate  fire  test  that  will 
show  exactly  how  many  ounces  of  silver  there  are 
in  a  ton  of  ore,  or  any  given  quantity  of  ore.  The 
point  of  a  pen  knife  will  hold  enough  of  the  pul- 
verized sample,  which  is  placed  in  the  polished 
scoop  of  scales  so  nicely  adjusted  that  a  pencil 
mark  on  a  piece  of  paper  will  put  them  out  of 
balance.  The  exact  weight  of  this  small  sample  is 
carefully  noted  for  it  forms  the  basis  of  a  future 
calculation  as  to  value  of  the  ore. 

After  adding  to  this  sample  three  times  as  much 
triturated  lead  and  the  same  amount  of  borax,  wrap 
all  three  of  them  in  a  piece  of  tissue  paper,  and 
then  with  a  pair  of  tongs  put  the  cupel  containing 
the  sample  in  the  red  hot  furnace.  Half  an  hour 
later  take  out  the  cupel,  and  remove  the  substance 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  111 

with  a  pair  of  tweezers,  and  tap  it  lightly  with  a 
small  hammer  on  a  smooth  substance  and  the  slag 
will  fly  off  like  a  piece  of  glass,  leaving  the  lead 
and  silver,  if  there  is  any  silver. 

Then  place  this  lead  button  in  a  bone-ash  cupel 
and  put  it  back  in  the  furnace  for  about  an  hour, 
and  if  there  is  any  silver  a  bright  metalic  flash  over 
the  little  button  will  indicate  that  the  lead  is  gone 
and  only  the  silver  remains,  the  lead  being  vola- 
tilized by  the  air  and  absorbed  by  the  bone-ash. 
If  the  sample  is  from  low  grade  mineral  the  button 
will  be  hard  to  handle,  yet  it  can  be  weighed  and 
the  value  of  the  ore  determined 

Accuracy  in  weighing,  manipulating  and  calcu- 
lation were  essential  to  a  correct  assay,  but  to  be 
an  expert  required  practice.  During  my  week  of 
scholarship  perhaps  I  made  forty  assays  and  felt 
myself  as  able  as  any  one  to  do  the  work.  In  order 
to  make  this  information  available  to  me  as  a 
prospector  it  was  necessary  to  substitute  the  "blow- 
pipe" in  place  of  the  furnace.  This  little  instrument 
consisted  of  a  brass  tube  a  foot  long  with  an  ivory 
mouthpiece  and  a  two-inch  crook  at  the  other  end, 
tipped  with  platinum,  which  could  be  bought  for 
$3.00  and  a  cheaper  one  for  a  third  that  price. 

A  blowpipe  assay  can  be  made  in  less  than  ten 
minutes  by  preparing  the  sample  just  the  same  as 
used  in  the  furnace.  The  platinum  tip  is  put  in  the 
blaze  of  an  ordinary  candle  above  the  end  of  the 
wick,  and  the  entire  flame  is  diverted,  terminating 
in  a  blue  point,  which  must  be  kept  in  touch  with 
the  sample.  By  inflating  the  cheeks  and  breathing 
through  the  nose  it  is  easy,  after  a  little  practice,  to 
keep  a  constant  current  of  air  pasing  through  the 
tube.  It  is  said  the  end  of  this  blue  blaze  contains 
the  most  intense  heat  that  can  be  produced  by  any 
known  process.  I  obtained  a  graded  scale  marked 
on  a  strip  of  ivory  showing  by  measurements  the 
value  of  assay  buttons  per  ton  of  ore.  By  using 
this  scale  an  approximate  value  of  a  piece  of  ore 


112  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

could  be  obtained,  which  was  good  enough  in  a 
general  way  for  a  prospector. 

The  process  by  which  the  mill  man  obtains  a  little 
dust  that  will  lay  on  the  point  of  a  knife  which 
establishes  the  value  of  a  ton,  or  any  other  amount, 
of  ore,  might  be  interesting  if  it  were  not  too  te- 
dious to  tell.  How  it  is  done  is  important,  if  not 
interesting  to  the  purchaser,  as  well  as  owner,  as  it 
involves  a  matter  of  money  which  represents  labor. 
A  man  presents  a  bale  of  cotton  on  the  market ; 
it  is  sampled  and  paid  for  according  to  grade  and 
quantity.  In  the  same  way  one  with  a  small  quan- 
tity of  ore,  say  less  than  a  ton  can  deliver  it  at  a 
mill  and  get  his  check  in  less  than  three  hours.  In 
a  large  producing  mine,  the  owner  can  contract 
with  the  mill  man  to  treat  his  ore  at  so  much  per 
ton,  and  then  the  bullion  will  belong  to  him. 

I  might  mention  before  leaving  the  subject  that 
the  three  ingredients  for  making  an  assay,  including 
the  bone  ash,  and  mold  for  making  the  cupel,  would 
weigh  less  than  two  pounds,  and  enough  to  make 
a  hundred  assays  or  more.  This  is  one  of  the  first 
things  I  ought  to  have  learned  as  a  prospector. 
Searching  for  something  and  not  knowing  when 
it  is  found  is  like  playing  blind-man's-bluff,  all 
guess  work  after  found. 

It  is  now  about  time  for  another  chapter  so  I 
will  hang  up  the  receiver  and  tell  "central"  to  give 
me  a  different  number. 


CHAPTER  V 

LEASE  ON  SUMMIT  MINE.     WORKED  ON  A  MINE 

DISCOVERED   BY  A   MINERAL   BOB.     WORK  ON 

TUNNEL.   A   CASE   OF   LUNG   FEVER.   THE   BIG 

PULASKA  MINE.     VISITED  A  DANCE  HOUSE. 

DISCOVERED  R.  E.  LEE  AND  OTHER  MINES. 

SOLD    SHELTON    TUNNEL.      DECIDED    TO 

LEAVE  THE   COUNTRY.     SELLING  THE 

PULASKA.     A    NEW    ENTERPRISE    ON 

TAP. 

Not  even  the  inspiration  of  a  new  chapter  can 
change  the  old  song  which  has  for  its  refrain  "get 
rich,"  though  the  word  "quick"  is  left  out,  as  a 
known  failure.  The  accumulation  of  a  competency 
in  life,  or  even  a  fortune  so  to  speak,  is  a  laudable 
ambition  and  is  the  first  step  that  leads  out  of 
poverty's  vale.  An  inordinate  desire  for  wealth, 
however,  if  prompted  by  the  alluring  pursuits  of 
pleasure,  often  causes  some  people  to  disregard 
the  rights  and  possessions  of  others.  When  honesty 
is  cast  aside  for  the  sake  of  wealth,  the  material 
left  will  make  a  bandit  and  a  thief. 

During  the  time  we  were  taking  the  boulders 
out  of  the  creek  one  of  the  men,  Dick  Simmons, 
a  Cornishman,  told  me  that  on  a  contract  he  sunk 
a  shaft  on  the  Summit  mine  a  hundred  feet  deep, 
and  it  had  to  be  timbered  all  the  way  to  the  bot- 
tom. This  work  was  done  in  the  first  part  of  1867, 
a  while  before  my  arrival  in  Georgetown.  Accord- 
ing to  his  statement  the  rich  "sulphurett"  was  worth 
$1.00  per  pound,  the  richest  mine  ever  discovered 
in  the  Rocky  Mountain  range,  but  the  stuff  was 
found  in  pockets  and  scattered  through  the  shaly 
rock  making  it  hard  to  save,  in  fact  he  didn't  make 
much  effort  to  save  it 


114  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

The  mine  was  bought  by  J.  B.  Chaffee,  a  rich 
banker  of  Denver,  who  was  also  one  of  the  dele- 
gates in  Congress  representing  the  territory.  He 
expected  that  the  mineral  vein  would  become  solid 
at  a  hundred  feet  or  less,  so  with  other  business  of 
importance,  gave  out  the  contract  and  then  paid 
very  little  attention  to  it,  waiting  for  results.  At 
the  depth  of  forty  feet  the  pitch  of  the  vein  caused 
them  to  leave  it  on  the  outside  of  the  shaft,  it 
being  easier  to  timber  straight  down  than  to  follow 
the  mine.  Of  course  this  was  an  injustice  to  the 
owner,  and  almost  equivalent  to  robbery. 

His  propositon  was  to  obtain  a  lease  from  Mr, 
Chaffee  for  three  months  and  after  that  to  pay 
him  a  royalty.  Dick  did  not  want  his  name  used  in 
the  lease,  nor  did  he  want  anything  said  about  his 
leaving  the  vein  at  forty  feet.  As  Mr.  Pope,  my 
partner,  was  a  friend  of  Mr.  Chaffee,  he  drew  up  a 
lease  and  sent  it  to  Washington  City,  which  was 
returned  properly  signed  by  the  time  I  was  through 
learning  to  make  assays.  On  Monday  morning  Dick 
was  ready  and  we  hit  the  old  trail,  loaded  down 
to  the  guard  with  tools,  blankets  and  supplies  to 
last  a  whole  week.  It  is  amazing  the  amount  a  man 
can  carry  on  his  back,  through  the  snow  and  up  a 
mountain,  when  he  decides  to  do  so. 

We  found  a  nice  cabin  with  a  floor  in  it,  and  a 
fairly  good  cook  stove  and  everything  as  Dick  said 
he  left  them  four  and  a  half  years  before.  We  were 
afraid  to  risk  the  safety  of  the  old  windlass  so 
Dick  tied  a  loop  in  one  end  of  a  rope  we  brought 
with  us  and  fastened  the  other  end  to  one  of  the 
timbers  around  the  shaft.  Wrapping  the  rope 
around  one  leg  he  slid  off  down  the  shaft  with  a 
hundred  feet  between  him  and  the  bottom.  He  put 
one  foot  in  the  loop,  and  with  another  smaller  rope 
I  lowered  to  him  pieces  of  timber  the  right  length 
and  size  to  drive  between  the  timbers  of  the  shaft. 
In  a  short  time  he  had  a  good  platform  to  stand 
on. 

With  saw  and  hatchet  he  cut  out  four  of  the  shaft 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  115 

timbers,  the  lower  one  fifty  feet  below  the  top.  By 
doing  this  it  would  expose  more  of  the  ore  vein. 
While  he  was  doing  this  I  cut  pieces  of  the  right 
size  and  length  and  put  them  in  between  the 
timbers,  down  one  end  of  the  shaft,  form- 
ing a  ladder  way  so  as  to  get  in  and  out  of 
the  mine  without  being  forced  to  climb  the  rope. 
We  found  two  or  three  old  tin  buckets,  and  in  these 
Dick  saved  the  "sulphurett"  ore,  some  of  it  fine 
as  flour.  In  the  process  of  saving  he  had  to  include 
a  good  deal  of  the  shaly  rock,  and  part  of  my  busi- 
ness was  to  spread  it  out  on  a  table  for  careful 
separation.  A  lot  of  the  ore  was  sticking  to  the 
rock  like  melted  beeswax,  and  had  to  be  scraped 
off  with  a  knife  or  a  chisel. 

Several  pipe  assays,  by  measurement,  showed  the 
ore  to  be  worth  close  to  $1.00  per  pound.  As  the 
snow  on  the  trail  was  too  deep  to  use  a  pack  animal 
the  only  alternative  was  for  each  of  us  to  carry 
about  forty  pounds  of  it  on  our  shoulders.  Consi- 
dering its  value,  and  being  down  grade  all  the  way, 
this  work  was  no  worse  than  moving  boulders  out 
of  the  creek.  We  continued  the  work  until  Friday 
morning  of  the  third  week,  when  during  the  pre- 
vious night  the  whole  thing  fell  in,  so  we  had  to 
hang  up  the  "fiddle." 

It  had  been  my  usual  custom  to  peep  in  two  or 
three  times  each  day  and  watch  Dick  working  in 
his  "gopher"  hole.  He  was  a  first  class  miner  and 
was  so  rated,  having  followed  the  occupation  back 
in  Cornwall,  England,  from  the  time  he  was  ten 
years  of  age.  Part  of  the  time  I  might  have  helped 
him  take  out  some  of  the  ore,  as  he  was  drifting 
both  ways  on  the  vein,  but  I  thought  it  too  dan- 
gerous without  putting  in  timber,  and  told  him  so, 
but  it  is  every  man's  business  to  use  his  own  judg- 
ment. 

No  doubt  a  lot  of  money  might  have  been  made 
by  working  the  mine  in  a  careful  systematic  way. 
Dick's  hands  were  large  and  clumsy  and  he  didn't 
save  more  than  half  the  mineral,  but  I  could  not 


116  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

afford  to  tell  him  so,  as  he  was  doing  the  risky 
part  of  the  work  The  beauty  of  the  whole  thing 
was  in  the  wind-up  when  the  mill  man  gave  his 
check  for  $220.00,  nearly  $40.00  a  week  for  our 
work,  and  on  my  part  not  hard  work  either. 

While  staying  on  the  summit  point  which  is  in 
plain  view  of  Georgetown,  I  must  not  forget  to 
mention  that  I  saw  my  first  and  only  flock  of  Rocky 
Mountain  sheep.  It  seems  they  range  along  on 
points  where  the  wind  blows  away  the  snow  and 
leaves  the  ground  bare,  or  nearly  so.  At  first  they 
were  about  sixty  yards  distant  and  moving  slowly. 
Some  four  or  five  of  them  were  wearing  their  horns, 
perhaps  for  my  benefit.  It  is  said  the  horns  are 
about  a  quarter  the  size  of  the  sheep,  but  it 
looked  to  me  like  they  were  half  the  size. 

An  occasional  "wind-fall"  helps  to  keep  a  man's 
bank  account  in  good  shape,  and  has  a  tendency  to 
inspire  a  safe  feeling.  Since  the  death  of  Hersha  I 
had  decided  to  keep  enough  money  on  hand  to  be 
used  in  case  of  an  accident,  or  any  other  emer- 
gency. After  a  vacation  from  work  for  one  month 
Daniel  was  ready  to  enter  the  conflict.  We  had 
about  decided  to  resume  work  on  our  tunnel  when 
a  new  field  of  uncertainty  presented  itself. 

Our  old  friend  Webster  still  occupied  part  of  the 
cabin.  His  resources  consisted  in  owning  a  placer 
mining  claim  somewhere  down  the  creek  which  he 
worked  about  two  weeks  each  year,  the  balance 
of  the  time  there  was  not  enough  water  for  sluicing 
purposes.  Some  years  he  took  out  more  than  others 
yet  always  enough  to  keep  him  up  by  using  eco- 
nomy. I  have  in  my  possession  one  of  the  gold  pel- 
lets he  made,  worth  about  $5.00,  formed  by  press- 
ing the  quicksilver  through  a  piece  of  buckskin, 
which  shows  the  grain  of  the  skin  on  the  surface 
of  the  pellet.  It  is  not  for  sale  at  present. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  old  man  was  the 
unbounded  confidence  he  had  in  his  power  of  lo- 
cating a  mine  by  the  use  of  a  mineral  bob.  We 
both  knew  that  father  once  sent  for  a  man  who 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  li? 

with  a  forked  limb  told  him  just  where  to  dig,  and 
the  number  of  feet  before  striking  water,  and  it 
turned  out  exactly  as  he  said  it  would,  but  that 
might  have  been  an  accident.  As  for  my  own  part 
I  was  willing  to  give  any  man's  ideas  on  anything, 
however  unreasonable  they  might  be,  a  fair  trial  be- 
fore condemning  them.  If  I  had  been  present  on 
the  ground  and  had  seen  Elijah  step  in  his  fiery 
chariot  and  fly  away  into  the  upper  deep,  I  would 
have  accepted  it  as  true,  but  I  was  not  there,  which 
makes  a  difference,  and  requires  a  good  deal  of 
salt,  and  then  some  more,  to  make  it  go. 

The  mineral  bob  he  used  was  made  of  a  cartridge 
shell  partly  filled  with  amalgam  and  two  pieces  of 
whalebone  stuck  into  it  and  fastened  there  by  a 
wooden  peg  between  them.  He  held  these  whale- 
bones in  his  hands  in  such  a  way  that  the  bob  stood 
out  before  him,  and  in  crossing  a  vein  of  mineral 
the  bob  dipped  down,  either  toward  or  from  him, 
without  any  volition  on  his  part,  that  is  he  said  it 
did.  I  found  it  would  bob  over  in  my  hand  by  moving 
the  muscles  very  little.  As  the  bob  always  went 
down  at  a  certain  place,  I  asked  him  to  move  slowly 
so  I  might  see  and  detect  any  movement  of  his 
fingers  or  wrist,  but  with  all  my  care  and  scrutiny 
I  failed  to  detect  any  motion  or  pressure. 

Neither  of  us  had  much  confidence  in  his  wizard 
ability  to  control  the  laws  of  gravitation.  He  had 
a  kind  of  vague  theory  that  his  nervous  system 
acting  as  a  battery  caused  an  electric  current  be- 
tween the  bob  and  the  mineral  below.  On  my  own 
part  I  realized  that  it  was  not  a  question  of  con- 
fidence or  belief,  but  one  involving  truth  and  false- 
hood, whichever  it  might  be.  There  was  only  one 
way  of  settling  the  matter  and  that  was  by  giving 
it  a  fair  and  impartial  trial,  and  this  we  decided  to 
do.  If  it  proved  true  it  would  be  far  better  than 
running  boom  ditches,  if  false  it  would  only  be 
time  lost. 

Next  morning  we  struck  out,  it  seemed  to  me, 
like  the  "blind  following  the  blind."  It  was  now 


118  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

mid-winter  and  lots  of  snow,  but  we  cared  little 
more  for  this  than  walking  over  plowed  ground, 
unless  it  was  over  waist  deep.  The  high  winds 
generally  formed  a  crust  strong  enough  to  bear 
one's  weight.  Webster  told  us  before  starting  he 
had  several  places  in  mind  where  by  digging  we 
would  find  a  good  body  of  mineral,  but  could  not 
tell  how  far  to  it,  or  how  rich  in  silver  it  might  be. 
That  he  could  tell  as  to  quantity  but  not  quality. 

By  following  the  road  up  the  left  branch  of 
the  creek  we  passed  where  Mr.  Glenn,  a  man  about 
60  years  of  age  was  working  in  a  tunnel  by  himself. 
He  was  using  a  5-8  drill  and  doing  his  own  striking 
with  a  four-pound  hammer.  He  was  an  old  Cali- 
fornia miner,  leading  a  kind  of  hermit  life  in  a 
cabin  by  himself.  I  will  have  more  to  say  of  him 
further  along.  After  leaving  the  tunnel  Webster 
remarked  that  he  was  prospecting  for  one  of  his 
locations.  I  had  known  the  old  man  Glenn  for  some 
time  and  in  talking  with  him  he  said  he  was  trying 
to  strike  an  extension  of  the  Equator,  which  was 
about  a  quarter  mile  further  west. 

Passing  this  mine  about  two  or  three  hundred 
feet,  and  then  up  the  mountain  not  at  all  steep, 
about  the  same  distance,  Webster  produced  his  bob 
and  began  gyrating  around  and  located  several 
places  in  line  with  each  other,  and  said  by  digging 
at  any  of  these  places  we  would  find  a  large  body  of 
mineral.  The  snow  was  two  or  three  feet  deep,  and 
timber  would  be  hard  to  get  in  case  we  were  forced 
to  use  it.  This  and  other  reasons  caused  us  to  move 
to  another  place  much  nearer  town,  though  higher 
on  the  mountain,  where  as  he  said  the  bob  worked 
equally  as  well,  and  we  would  have  plenty  of  tim- 
ber. 

If  there  is  not  a  "gray  eyed"  destiny  in  the  af- 
fairs of  men  there  is  something  else  very  close  kin 
to  it,  as  the  sequel  will  show  when  the  proper  time 
comes  to  mention  it  in  the  regular  routine  of 
events.  We  had  every  "mineral  bob"  assurance  that 
the  place  selected  had  prolific  deposits  of  a  metalic 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  119 

character.  After  shoveling  away  the  snow  for 
twenty  feet  around  we  marked  off  a  5x8  shaft  and 
commenced  throwing  dirt.  On  the  third  day  at  a 
depth  of  four  or  five  feet  we  passed  through  the 
hardpan  formation  and  struck  into  a  fine  species 
of  "indication"  or  "flow"  from  a  mine.  This  was 
very  encouraging  and  gave  us  exhuberant  feelings, 
for  awhile  at  least. 

That  night  in  telling  Webster  of  our  luck,  we 
also  told  him  while  there  was  no  contract  to  that 
effect,  yet  we  were  willing  to  give  him  a  third  in- 
terest and  name  it  "Webster,"  and  give  him  credit 
for  its  discovery.  It  seemed  to  put  new  life  in  the 
old  man,  turning  back  the  dial  of  time  ten  or  fifteen 
years.  Next  morning  he  had  breakfast  prepared  for 
all  three  of  us  before  daylight,  also  a  lunch  for  din- 
ner. He  was  not  a  lazy  man  but  seemed  to  have  no 
energy,  which  may  account  for  the  reason  why  he 
did  not  follow  up  with  pick  and  shovel  as  directed 
by  his  mineral  bob,  as  he  had  so  much  confidence 
in  it. 

While  two  worked  in  a  shaft  the  other  one  got 
out  timber  to  rig  up  a  windlass  which  we  would 
need  in  a  short  time.  At  the  tepth  of  twelve  or 
fifteen  feet  the  "lead"  was  between  well  defined 
foot  and  hanging  walls,  with  a  pitch  of  about 
twenty  degrees  from  a  perpendicular,  which  was 
often  the  case  as  very  few  mines  went  straight 
down.  This  in  principle  was  against  Webster's  idea 
for  his  bob  told  him  to  continue  in  a  direct  line, 
however  he  was  willing  to  follow  the  vein  as  the 
most  sensible  thing  to  do. 

The  hanging  wall  was  smooth  and  solid  and 
looked  like  it  had  just  received  a  fresh  coat  of  white 
paint.  When  down  twenty-five  feet  we  noticed  the 
powder  smoke  hung  unusually  long,  which  caused 
us  to  think  there  might  be  some  foul  air,  nor  did 
the  candles  burn  with  their  usual  brightness.  In- 
stead of  getting  better  the  conditions  grew  worse. 
We  put  up  near  the  shaft  a  sheet-iron  stove  with 
two  pipes  attached,  one  of  them  leading  down  into 


120  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

the  shaft.  A  brisk  fire  soon  restored  normal  condi- 
tions but  did  not  remove  the  cause,  so  it  was  neces- 
sary to  keep  up  the  fire  nearly  all  the  time. 

At  the  depth  of  thirty-five  or  forty  feet  the  me- 
phitic  air  was  more  difficult  to  control,  nor  had  we 
yet  found  any  mineral.  Possibly,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility the  real  mine  was  less  than  one  inch  from  us 
behind  the  white,  sleek  wall.  I  will  mention  later 
my  reasons  for  this  conclusion.  For  these  and 
maybe  other  reasons  we  decided  to  suspend  work 
and  try  something  else.  It  was  not  fully  proven  one 
way  or  the  other  whether  Webster  could  discover 
a  mine  with  his  mineral  bob  or  not.  The  way  the 
thing  stood  it  was  about  an  even  break  both  ways, 
with  some  little  difference  in  his  favor. 

Finding  a  vacant  house  near  our  tunnel  we  took 
possession,  but  the  house  was  none  the  worse  off 
because  we  could  not  find  the  owner.  Pealing  the 
bark  off  my  knuckles  one  day  while  rolling  the 
wheelbarrow  caused  us  to  hire  a  carpenter  to  make 
and  put  in  a  car,  with  track  complete,  which  cost 
$30.00.  It  held  four  or  five  times  as  much  as  the 
wheelbarrow  and  could  be  pushed  along  with  one 
hand,  and  was  self  dumping  by  simply  moving  a 
latch. 

We  had  a  nice  place  to  work  and  were  making 
fine  progress  but  in  spite  of  all  these  favorable  con- 
ditions I  took  the  lung  fever,  the  only  spell  of  sick- 
ness during  my  nine  years  in  the  mountains.  The 
neighbors  were  very  kind  to  me,  and  under  treat- 
ment of  a  doctor  I  was  restored  to  health  in  about 
two  months.  Daniel  had  made  some  progress  in  the 
tunnel  with  a  5-8  drill  and  dynamite,  during  my 
convalescence.  The  snow  had  nearly  all  disappeared 
and  it  was  time  to  look  after  "indications"  on 
Leavenworth  Mountain. 

In  a  few  days  we  found  three  men  in  a  hole  al- 
ready ten  feet  deep,  and  they,  were  taking  out  quite 
a  lot  of  mineral.  I  pointed  out  to  them  that  they 
were  guided  by  my  discovery  in  the  boom  ditch, 
and  for  this  reason  would  ask  them  to  discontinue 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  121 

their  work,  and  also  to  abandon  all  rights  to  the 
property.  This  they  very  positively  declined  to  do, 
but  fighting  was  not  my  way  of  settling  a  dispute 
of  any  kind  unless  forced  as  a  last  resort.  I  saw  my 
partner  Pope,  and  through  him  commenced  some 
kind  of  ejectment  suit  which  brought  them  in 
court. 

In  a  private  way  Pope  explained  to  me  that  we 
might  lose  the  case  before  either  judge  or  jury  on 
the  grounds  of  neglecting  our  rights  too  long;  that 
some  points  of  law  were  against  us.  I  was  well 
acquainted  with  one  of  the  parties  and  concluded 
to  have  a  talk  with  him,  and  also  his  partners.  In 
this  conference  I  suggested  that  as  prospectors  we 
could  not  afford  to  spend  money  in  a  lawsuit.  If  the 
mine  should  prove  valuable  it  was  big  enough  to 
make  us  all  rich.  That  each  party  had  vested  legal 
rights,  and  speaking  for  my  company,  we  were  will- 
ing for  them  to  own  the  east  end  of  the  mine  com- 
mencing at  the  ditch  and  including  their  discovery, 
while  we  would  take  the  west  end. 

They  readily  accepted  this  proposition  and  the 
mine  was  recorded  that  way  under  the  name  of 
"Pulaska."  After  a  few  weeks  they  quit  work,  but 
said  nothing  about  the  cause.  We  went  about  two 
hundred  feet  west  and  made  a  cross-cut  showing 
the  ore  vein  to  be  six  or  seven  feet  across  at  a 
depth  of  twenty-five  feet.  This  was  decidedly  the 
largest  mine  ever  discovered  in  that  section  of 
the  country,  the  ore  consisting  of  galena  and  py- 
rites. In  crossing  the  vein  which  required  several 
days,  I  made  two  or  three  pipe  assays  every  day 
with  the  uniform  results  of  very  little  if  any  silver. 
For  fear  my  assays  might  not  be  correct  I  took  a 
good  sample  and  made  a  furnace  test  with  the  same 
results. 

There  was  nothing  left  for  us  to  do  only  to  quit, 
as  the  other  parties  had  done.  From  there  we  went 
on  top  of  the  mountain  and  built  a  reservoir  in- 
tending to  make  a  cut  some  five  hundred  feet  west 
of  the  Equator.  When  we  were  in  fairly  a  good 


122  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

headway  an  injunction  was  served  against  us  on 
the  plea  that  travel  on  the  road  would  be  stopped 
for  several  months  and  maybe  for  all  time.  I  had 
this  cut  in  view  before  making  those  on  the  other 
side  of  the  mountain  the  year  before,  but  antici- 
pated there  might  be  trouble.  As  there  was  no 
way  to  compromise  the  matter,  we  simply  quit  the 
drive. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  tell  about  troubles  and 
misfortunes,  but  the  events  in  the  life  of  an  ordi- 
nary man  are  in  constant  touch  with  these  stalk- 
ing spectres  so  that  it  is  necessary  to  mention  one 
in  order  to  tell  about  the  other.  If  I  was  writing  a 
romance  the  hero  would  not  be  allowed  to  do  a 
single  day's  hard  work,  and  every  mine  he  discov- 
ered would  be  worth  a  million  dollars.  This  coun- 
try produced  a  few  heroes  after  a  fashion,  which 
will  be  mentioned  in  due  time,  but  without  any  ex- 
ception they  had  to  climb  many  high  hills  before 
they  reached  the  heroic  part  of  their  career. 

With  some  limitations  old  man  Glenn  possessed 
heroic  qualities.  A  few  pages  back  we  left  him  in 
a  tunnel,  all  alone,  removing  the  ribs  of  rock  be- 
tween him  and  a  supposed  vein  of  mineral.  After 
hammering  six  long  months  he  reached  the  coveted 
prize,  but  found  the  mineral  too  poor  in  silver  to 
pay  its  way  through  the  mill.  Perhaps  a  fourth  of 
the  mines  in  the  country  were  of  this  character. 
As  a  prospector  he  had  been  "short"  on  the  lucky 
side  for  over  twenty  years.  He  simply  "picked 
his  flint"  after  this  failure  and  commenced  digging 
at  the  very  spot,  near  the  Equator,  where  Webster 
first  told  us  there  was  a  big  deposit  of  mineral 
below. 

There  was  some  kind  of  an  arrangement  between 
Glenn  and  the  owner  of  a  saloon  and  billiard  hall. 
His  name  was  "Tobe",  though  doubtless  he  had 
some  other  name,  yet  I  never  heard  it.  He  was  very 
reticent,  but  quite  popular  with  the  miners  and 
prospectors.  When  they  got  "stuck"  for  the  game 
and  had  no  money  he  would  say  "all  right,  come 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  123 

again."  He  furnished  Glenn  with  all  his  supplies 
of  every  character,  but  could  not  trust  him  with 
a  jug  or  bottle  of  liquor.  Glenn  knew  his  failing 
and  submitted  to  an  allowance. 

Every  morning  before  breakfast  he  walked  nearly 
two  miles  and  back  to  get  his  goblet  of  liquor, 
holding  a  third  of  a  pint.  When  the  day's  work  was 
over  this  was  repeated,  no  matter  how  cold  or  how 
deep  the  snow.  He  was  digging  this  hole  in  the 
ground  at  the  time  we  were  stopped  from  making 
the  cut  previously  referred  to,  which  would  have 
mised  him  about  two  hundred  feet.  There  was  no 
indication  of  any  mine  whatever  where  he  was  dig- 
ging, nothing  but  dirt  and  gravel  known  as  hard- 
pan.  He  filled  a  bucket  with  this  stuff  and  then 
climbed  a  ladder  and  pulled  it  up  with  a  windlass, 
doing  all  the  work  himself. 

During  the  summer,  at  the  depth  of  thirty-five 
or  forty  feet  he  broke  through  this  compact  dirt 
and  "mirabile  dictu"  the  dream  of  his  life  was 
beneath  his  feet.  Two  feet  of  solid  mineral  worth 
$700.00  per  ton,  one  of  the  richest  mines  consider- 
ing its  size  ever  discovered  in  that  mining  region. 
If  we  had  been  allowed  to  finish  our  last  cut  we 
would  have  beat  him  to  it  at  least  thirty  days,  but 
it  seems  the  irony  of  fate  was  against  us.  Of  course 
there  was  great  rejoicing  in  the  house  of  Tobe  and 
Glenn,  and  no  doubt  the  old  man  was  given  an 
extra  goblet  of  liquor. 

The  mine  was  recorded  under  the  name  "Colo- 
rado Central."  Very  little  was  said  and  perhaps  very 
little  known  of  the  very  singular  manner  of  its 
discovery.  It  seems  results  are  about  the  only  thing 
interesting  to  people  in  a  general  way.  No  doubt 
our  old  friend  Webster  deserved  credit  for  locating 
the  mine,  though  Glenn  would  not  accept  it  as  a 
fact.  It  seems  unreasonable  that  a  man  of  his  age 
and  experience  in  mining  would  dig  just  anywhere 
for  mineral  without  some  kind  of  a  pointer.  In  the 
meantime  Webster  had  sold  out  his  placer  claim 


124  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

and  left  for  parts  unknown  and  there  was  no  way 
of  proving  the  fact. 

As  a  sequel  to  this  great  discovery,  Glenn  with 
a  few  thousand  dollars,  left  to  visit  his  old  friends 
back  in  California,  and  it  is  almost  needless  to  say 
was  never  heard  of  any  more.  I  had  heard  the  old 
man  tell  of  his  adventures  out  further  West  in  his 
younger  days.  However  before  leaving  he  gave 
Tobe  written  authority  to  manage  and  own  the 
mine  in  his  absence.  In  a  short  time  Tobe  sold  his 
saloon,  and  in  less  than  a  year  was  a  very  wealthy 
man,  and  like  others  that  got  rich  quick  he  went 
back  East  to  spend  his  money. 

It  is  said,  and  with  much  truth  it  may  be,  that 
the  beneficent  hand  of  Nature  makes  nothing  in 
vain  or  without  a  purpose.  According  to  wise  plans 
of  Creation  this  great  system  of  mountains  ten 
thousand  miles  in  length  must  have  been  designed 
to  contain  veins  of  different  kinds  of  mineral,  other- 
wise their  formation  would  have  been  without  a 
purpose.  Advancing  civilization  caused  a  greater 
demand  for  these  minerals  and  a  great  army  of 
men  were  enduring  hardships  and  privations  in 
order  to  find  their  hidden  vaults.  My  career  in  life 
for  the  time  was  devoted  to  pursuit  of  these  treas- 
ures. 

Several  miles  of  bedrock  had  been  exposed  for 
this  specific  purpose.  These  veins  above  referred 
to,  which  in  some  mysterious  way  penetrate  the 
ribs  of  granite  rock,  chimney  out  at  certain  places 
forming  what  is  termed  in  mining  parlance  "crop- 
pings"  of  a  mine.  But  they  are  very  treacherous 
and  misleading.  A  fine  "indication"  often,  very 
often,  proves  to  be  a  false  blossom  with  no  fruit 
to  follow,  while  a  poor  one  might  with  a  little  de- 
velopment show  up  a  valuable  mine  as  the  case 
with  the  Dives.  Due  to  these  facts  we  ought  to  exa- 
mine nearly  every  foot  of  exposed  bedrock. 

Not  being  able  or  allowed  to  finish  what  we  con- 
sidered one  of  our  most  important  cuts  near  the 
Equator  we  commenced  exploring  the  cuts  on  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  125 

other  side  already  made.  We  dug  out  numerous 
holes  in  the  rocks,  ran  open  cuts  where  the  moun- 
tain was  steepest,  in  fact  did  lots  of  work  worthy 
of  a  better  cause,  but  with  the  same  invariable  re- 
sults, nothing  doing.  Four  of  the  cuts  had  been 
examined,  two  yet  remaining,  but  as  it  was  sur- 
face work  and  the  winter  snow  made  its  appear- 
ance we  struck  camp,  moved  back  into  the  same 
house,  and  resumed  work  on  our  tunnel  which  we 
left  about  six  months  previous. 

Silver  Plume  consisted  of  eight  or  ten  houses 
at  this  time,  and  others  in  process  of  construction. 
The  citizens  thought  this  little  house  belonged  to 
us,  as  no  one  else  claimed  it.  We  knew  better,  but 
said  nothing.  No  one  ever  did  claim  it,  as  far  as  I 
know.  In  order  to  keep  up  the  connecting  links  of 
my  narrative  I  will  mention  that  this  was  in  the 
latter  part  of  1872  after  Grant's  visit,  but  before 
the  death  of  McMurtry,  or  the  shooting  of  Snyder 
by  Bishop,  and  of  course  the  Dives  and  Pelican 
were  large  producers  of  ore. 

In  the  early  part  of  1873  we  struck  the  King 
David  at  a  depth  of  a  hundred  feet  from  the  sur- 
face and  a  hundred  and  ten  feet  from  mouth  of 
tunnel.  After  drifting  some  distance  each  way  on 
th|£  vein  we  became  discouraged  and  felt  like  throw- 
ing up  the  sponge  and  retiring  to  private  life.  But 
we  found  the  spur,  as  we  called  it,  that  brought  us 
to  the  mine  continued  on  into  the  mountain.  We 
made  a  record  of  our  cross-cut  and  called  it  the 
Shelton  Tunnel,  and  began  talking  about  striking 
an  extension  of  the  Dives  and  Pelican,  just  off  their 
territory  and  at  a  depth  of  six  hundred  feet,  pro- 
vided their  limitations  were  that  extensive. 

In  this  way  the  "spur"  became  more  valuable 
than  the  mine.  The  tunnel  was  talked  about  by 
others  and  mentioned  in  the  papers  as  an  enter- 
prise promising  big  results.  There  are  "fads"  in 
mining  countries  as  well  as  other  places.  At  this 
time  the  Diamond  tunnel,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
west  of  purs,  was  in  operation  for  the  purpose  of 


126  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

striking  the  Dives  five  or  six  hundred  feet  under 
its  discovery  point.  But  our  tunnel  could  be  driven 
at  a  third  the  cost  of  others  on  account  of  the 
"gouge"  or  spur,  and  of  course  this  enhanced  its 
value. 

The  Burleigh  tunnel  situated  half  way  between 
Silver  Plume  and  Brownville,  named  for  the  man 
who  discovered  the  Terrible  mine,  had  been  in  oper- 
ation for  some  time.  Mr.  Burleigh  was  the  in- 
ventor of  a  drill  run  by  compressed  air.  I  have  seen 
it  at  work  and  it  made  a  kind  of  clatter.  No  man 
living  could  count  the  strokes,  they  were  so  rapid. 
They  struck  a  mine  which  had  a  big  lot  of  low 
grade  ore  at  the  surface,  a  thousand  feet  above, 
but  it  did  not  vary  an  ounce  in  value.  'Work  had 
been  conducted  on  the  Marshal  tunnel  for  two 
years,  expecting  to  strike  the  Equator  and  other 
mines  in  its  line. 

Mention  is  made  of  these  tunnels,  and  still  there 
were  others,  to  show  this  was  one  way  of  develop- 
ing mining  property.  It  not  only  facilitated  taking 
out  the  ore  in  many  ways,  and  delivering  it  to 
wagons  on  a  lower  level,  but  gave  the  mine  drain- 
age and  pure  air.  Our  object  now  was  to  place  the 
Shelton  tunnel  on  the  same  basis  with  other  big 
tunnels,  merely  prospecting  for  mines  that  might 
be  and  doubtless  were  in  front  of  us. 

As  our  tunnel  was  easy  to  approach,  we  had  a 
number  of  visitors  nearly  every  day,  and  it  was 
always  easy  enough  to  tell  them  that  we  expected 
to  strike  other  mines  before  reaching  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Dives.  I  met  a  man  one  day  by  the 
name  of  John  Murley,  and  he  suggested  to  me 
the  plan  of  forming  a  stock  company  retaining  a 
half  interest  for  ourselves.  Let  each  stockholder 
bind  himself  to  pay  $10.00  per  month  on  each 
$100.00  of  stock  for  two  years.  It  would  only  re- 
quire a  capital  of  $5,000.  paid  in  as  needed.  By 
adopting  his  plan  two  shifts  could  be  paid,  both 
night  and  day. 

He  ventured  to  suggest  that  if  the  property  be- 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  127 

longed  to  him  he  would  work  it  that  way.  His  con- 
fidence and  enthusiasm  in  the  scheme  prompted  me 
to  propose  selling  out  to  him.  As  a  fact  neither 
Daniel  or  myself  had  much  confidence  in  the  scheme, 
or  in  the  probability  of  valuable  mines  in  line  with 
our  tunnel,  nor  did  we  wish  to  spend  too  much  time 
and  money  on  a  venture  of  this  character.  After  a 
good  deal  of  talk  too  tedious  to  mention  we  made 
him  a  deed  to  the  tunnel  and  he  gave  us  his  check 
for  $800.00.  There  was  nothing  said  about  selling 
the  King  David  which  we  thought  might  be  worth 
something 

Quite  true  this  did  not  pay  us  in  full  for  our 
time  and  expense  on  the  tunnel,  which  we  had 
driven  a  hundred  and  forty  feet,  but  we  had  the 
prospect  during  the  time  and  lively  hope  of  striking 
a  young  fortune  by  developing  our  mine.  Murley 
was  meeting  with  some  success  in  his  scheme  of 
raising  a  company  when  unfortunately  he  took  sick 
and  died,  and  there  was  no  one  to  take  his  place. 
Nothing  more  was  done  about  it  up  to  the  time  I 
left  the  country,  which  was  forty-four  years  ago. 
Perhaps  it  still  remains  just  as  we  left  it. 

Nothing  else  being  in  sight  we  moved  our  trap- 
pings down  to  the  old  cabin  in  Georgetown.  It 
seemed  a  little  strange  not  to  meet  Mr.  Webster 
there  to  give  us  a  warm  welcome  and  glad  hand, 
but  before  leaving  he  had  stacked  a  nice  lot  of 
stove  wood  under  the  bunks  ready  for  use.  The 
woods  were  full  of  worse  men  than  Webster.  Some 
one  found  out  that  we  did  not  claim  the  little  house 
left  in  Silver  Plume,  and  as  it  was  a  good  building 
site  they  moved  it,  and  built  a  regular  "dance- 
house"  in  its  place.  I  will  refer  to  this  building 
later  when  finished,  and  the  wild  orgies  held  there 
after  it  was  in  swinging  operation. 

We  had  not  lost  a  day  for  nine  months,  and  why 
should  we  unless  for  some  good  cause.  Getting  back 
home  made  us  feel  like  returning  from  a  long  visit, 
and  it  was  pleasant  to  have  our  old  friends  call  to 
see  us.  Bill  Moore  and  the  Coules  brothers  were 


128  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

welcome  visitors  as  they  always  had  something  to 
tell  that  we  liked  to  hear.  Tom  Johns  and  his  bro- 
ther Frank  were  from  Florida.  They  were  pleasant, 
agreeable  companions,  and  their  absence  from  their 
home  was  for  purposes  similar  to  our  own.  Cooley 
and  Bob  Harper  were  Mississippians  and  cousins  to 
my  cousins,  but  were  a  different  and  better  class  of 
men.  They  had  plenty  of  money  and  spent  three  or 
four  days  with  us  before  leaving  for  Nevada  and 
other  Western  countries.  We  felt  like  going  with 
them  but  were  not  ready. 

To  our  great  surprise  my  partner  John  Burk- 
holder  made  his  appearance  with  a  tale  of  woe  and 
misfortune.  His  wagon  was  loaded  with  two  tons 
of  ore,  and  he  was  making  his  way  down  a  graded 
road  as  usual  when  the  lower  side  gave  way  and  the 
team  and  wagon  went  down  the  mountain  two  hun- 
dred feet  or  more,  breaking  the  wagon  into  pieces 
and  killing  the  horses,  barely  saving  his  own  life 
by  jumping  in  the  nick  of  time,  when  he  felt  the 
wagon  going  over. 

He  had  on  hand  plenty  of  money  to  buy  another 
team  and  have  some  left,  but  he  was  badly  upset 
over  his  loss  and  the  close  shave  in  losing  his  life. 
It  was  his  nature  to  have  very  little  to  say,  but  now 
he  was  gloomy  and  more  reticent  than  ever.  I  men- 
tioned to  him  one  day  that  it  was  nearly  time  to 
resume  our  work  on  Leavenworth  Mountain,  and 
as  one  of  the  partners  it  was  his  privilege  to  work 
with  me  if  he  wished  to  do  so.  After  some  hesitan- 
cy he  said :  "I  have  about  made  up  my  mind  to  try 
some  other  section  of  the  country.  If  I  can  be  re- 
leased from  further  obligations  I  will  deed  you  all 
my  interest  in  the  company,  except  the  Pulaska." 

My  only  alternative  was  to  accept  his  proposi- 
tion, as  I  knew  Daniel  would  accept  his  place.  The 
mistake  was  in  not  taking  a  power  of  attorney  to 
sell  his  interest  in  the  Pulaska,  if  an  opportunity 
presented  itself,  as  the  sequel  will  show.  When 
the  season  permitted  we  commenced  work  where 
we  left  off  the  year  before.  We  had  very  little  hope 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  129 

of  finding  anything  of  much,  or  any  value,  but  we 
had  spent  too  much  labor  and  money  on  these  cuts 
to  abandon  them  without  a  thorough  investigation. 
Disappointment  sinks  the  heart  of  man  is  a  trite 
old  adage,  and  very  true,  especially  if  repeated 
quite  often.  Water  puts  out  fire  and  in  the  same 
way  repeated  failure  puts  out  the  fire  of  enthusiasm 
and  effort. 

Nearing  the  top  and  on  the  last  cut  we  found  a 
small  vein  of  mineral  about  an  inch  thick,  we  came 
near  passing  over  it,  on  account  of  no  other  indi- 
cation only  the  mineral.  In  appearance  it  reminded 
me  of  stuff  found  in  the  Summit  mine.  It  had  been 
a  full  year  since  having  a  direct  use  for  the  blow- 
pipe when  it  told  me  the  Pulaska  was  no  account, 
but  now  it  told  a  different  tale  and  said  $1200.00 
per  ton  or  60  cents  per  pound.  We  now  owned  the 
least  though  richest  mine  in  the  country,  also  the 
largest  and  most  worthless  one.  The  two  extremes, 
and  yet  not  more  than  a  half  mile  apart. 

We  ran  an  open  cut  so  as  to  strike  the  vein  ten 
feet  from  the  surface.  This  would  enable  us  to 
save  the  ore  to  a  much  better  advantage,  and  also 
determine  whether  other  small  veins  were  near 
this  one  or  not.  In  three  weeks  we  had  in  sacks 
over  two  hundred  pounds  of  ore,  but  the  vein  had 
pinched  down  to  about  half  an  inch.  Some  mines 
increase  in  size  as  depth  is  gained  while  others 
taper  a  different  way.  There  was  a  party  in  the 
city  that  made  small  bars  and  buttons  from  rich 
ore.  I  carried  down  to  Captain  Pope  fiften  or  twenty 
pounds  of  ore  to  make  him  a  paper  weight  for  his 
office.  I  have  now  in  my  posession  a  small  silver 
button,  containing  three  or  four  dollars  in  silver, 
sprouted  to  resemble  a  full  blown  rose,  but,  like 
the  gold  pellet,  it  is  not  for  sale. 

Every  night  we  could  see  the  lights  gleaming 
over  in  Silver  Plume.  Through  curiosity  we  con- 
cluded to  walk  down  and  see  how  a  dance  house 
was  conducted,  on  the  principle  that  the  cat  is  not 
hurt  by  looking  at  a  king.  The  village  of  five  or 


130  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

six  hundred  inhabitants  was  a  regular  mining  town 
run  on  the  wide-open  plan.  This  was  awhile  before 
Snyder  was  killed  and  the  Dives  and  Pelican  were 
giving  work  to  over  a  hundred  day  laborers  and 
paying  them  $100.00  each  per  month  when  they 
put  in  full  time,  and  there  were  other  mines  doing 
the  same,  so  nearly  everybody  had  a  pocket  full 
of  money,  of  no  other  use  than  to  spend  it. 

There  was  a  large  hall  with  a  new  sleek  floor, 
and  it  cost  nothing  to  enter.  A  bar  with  large  mir- 
rors attractively  arranged  occupied  most  of  the 
rear  end,  the  balance  of  the  rear  space  was  used 
by  a  band  of  musicians.  There  were  fifteen  or 
twenty  women,  I  didn't  count  them,  of  the  demi- 
monde character  of  course.  Fifty  or  seventy-five 
men,  some  of  them  well-dressed,  the  gamblers,  but 
most  of  them  wore  the  garb  of  a  miner.  As  they 
were  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  whole  thing,  de- 
cided preferment  was  given  them.  A  "set"  lasted 
five  or  six  minutes  and  then  the  music  stopped,  and 
every  man  treated  his  partner  at  the  bar.  He  paid 
in  fifty  cents  for  what  cost  the  bar  less  than  five 
cents,  and  the  balance  was  clear  profit.  In  the  mean- 
time another  "set"  was  forming  so  the  Bacchana- 
lian ball  went  on. 

Everybody  seemed  to  be  laughing  and  talking 
about  something,  but  I  could  see  nothing  funny  or 
interesting.  How  on  earth  men  could  find  pleasure 
or  amusement  in  such  debauchery  passed  my  com- 
prehension. The  Spaniard  and  Mexican  spend  their 
time  and  money  to  see  a  man  fight  an  infuriated 
bull.  On  Sunday  morning  he  attends  church,  and 
in  the  evening  he  goes  to  see  and  bet  money  on  a 
chicken  fight,  and  we  call  them  half-civilized.  The 
highest  type  of  civilization  spend  their  time  and 
money  to  see  a  lot  of  young  men  risk  limb  and  life 
over  a  ball  game  in  which  some  of  them  are  maimed 
for  life  while  others  are  kiled  outright,  and  they 
call  this  heathen  game,  "football."  Men  and  women 
travel  thousands  of  miles  to  see  two  beastly  men 
stand  up  and  knock  each  other  down,  and  they  call 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  131 

it  pugilism.  There  might  be  question  whether  dance 
house  amusements  were  a  greater  evil  than  the 
others  mentioned  called  athletic  sports.  After  an 
hour  or  two  we  quietly  "skidooed".  Further  com- 
ments on  the  subject  will  be  deferred  to  some  other 
occasion,  which  may  never  occur. 

While  working  on  the  little  mine  which  we  gave 
the  big  name  of  "Robert  Lee,"  we  discovered  an- 
other mine  about  two  hundred  feet  further  up  the 
mountain.  It  showed  two  inches  solid  mineral  and 
in  some  places  better,  and  we  were  greatly  encour- 
aged because  across  the  way  about  five  hundred  feet 
distant,  though  on  the  other  slope  of  the  moun- 
tain, three  Welshmen  owned  a  mine  just  like  it 
from  which  they  had  taken  several  tons  of  ore.  A 
few  weeks  later  Bill  Moore  paid  them  $10,000. 
each  and  they  left  for  the  old  country.  Moore  made 
$45,000.  on  the  sale  he  told  me. 

The  blow-pipe  said  it  was  worth  $400.00  per  ton 
which  means  20  cents  per  pound.  To  get  a  fairly 
good  price  for  a  mine  it  was  necessary  to  show  a 
mill  run  of  more  tons  of  ore  than  one.  Capitalists 
were  shy  in  buying  gopher  holes.  I  had  imbibed  an 
idea  that  one  man  could  run  the  risk  of  a  mine 
continuing  to  produce  ore  as  well  as  another,  yet 
it  might  be  best  on  general  principles  to  let  the 
man  with  lots  of  money  assume  that  risk.  We  sold 
the  ore  taken  from  the  "Lee",  which  brought  us 
over  $200.00. 

In  the  spring  or  first  part  of  the  year  Judge 
Harmon  had  moved  to  Denver  and  was  then  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  law  at  that  place.  I  received 
a  very  kind  letter  from  him  inviting  me  to  attend 
the  big  fair  and  spend  a  week  or  so  with  him.  As 
I  had  been  in  the  mountains  for  six  long  years  I 
concluded  to  accept  his  invitation.  It  is  not  my  pur- 
pose to  write  about  the  fair  but  will  say  the  exhi- 
bits of  every  character  were  far  superior  to  what 
I  expected.  One  of  the  attractive  features  was  a 
stack  of  silver  brick  as  high  as  my  head.  They  were 
stacked  across  each  other  like  building  a  rail  pen 


132  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

and  capped  off  with  a  gold  brick  on  top.  These 
bricks  were  near  the  size  and  shape  of  an  ordinary 
brick.  A  guard,  dressed  in  blue  uniform  stood  near, 
and  a  little  paper  flag,  with  the  words  "hands  off," 
was  a  warning  to  the  public. 

The  principal  object  of  my  visit  to  Judge  Har- 
mon was  to  talk  over  with  him  our  mining  enter- 
prise. He  had  spent  some  money  keeping  up  his 
part.  We  might  easily  get  two  or  three  thousand 
dollars  each  for  the  two  mines  without  incurring 
any  further  risk  of  their  pinching  out,  and  he  had 
a  right  to  his  preference  in  the  matter.  I  wanted 
him  to  have  some  assurance  he  could  get  his  money 
back  and  some  besides.  But  I  found  he  was  more 
enthused  over  our  prospects  than  even  myself.  He 
thought  some  of  those  mines  we  had  discarded 
might  yet  prove  valuable,  at  any  rate  if  we  failed 
it  would  be  an  honest  failure. 

On  my  return  to  the  mountain  I  found  Daniel 
had  been  out  among  the  cliffs,  which  were  directly 
opposite  where  we  built  the  flue,  and  discovered  a 
small  streak  of  mineral.  It  seems  like  maybe  things 
were  coming  our  way,  so  we  concluded  to  put  in  a 
few  shots,  in  fact  worked  there  two  or  thre  days. 
A  thunder  shower,  a  very  unusual  thing,  passed  over 
and  the  sun  came  out  with  vigor.  Fortunately,  yes 
very  fortunately,  I  happened  to  look  up  toward  a 
jutting  cliff  some  thousand  feet  or  more  higher  up 
than  where  we  were  working,  and  to  my  amaze- 
ment saw  part  of  the  cliff  toppling  over  and  the 
rocks  coming  toward  us.  I  called  Daniel  to  run,  ex- 
pecting him  to  follow  me  in  safety  to  a  cliff  some 
forty  feet  distant.  I  could  see  millions  of  rocks 
whizzing  and  scooting  by.  There  is  no  use  trying 
to  describe  a  thing  of  this  kind  for  I  am  not  able 
to  do  the  subject  justice.  But  where  was  Daniel? 
Naturally  I  supposed  he  had  been  swept  away  by 
this  deluge  of  rocks.  Presently  he  made  his  appear- 
ance. He  had  taken  refuge  behind  a  bluff  some 
nearer,  where  the  rocks  had  passed  over  him. 

The  rocks  passed  within  a  few  feet  of  the  place 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  133 

we  were  working  and  filled  up  the  excavation  we 
had  made.  As  the  danger  might  not  yet  be  over  we 
gathered  up  what  tools  we  could  find  and  made  a 
hasty  departure.  A  few  days  later  we  went  back, 
but  never  did  get  all  our  tools.  We  deemed  it  a 
dangerous  place  to  work  and  concluded  to  wait 
until  our  scare  was  over. 

After  an  absence  of  nearly  two  weeks  we  re- 
sumed work  on  our  new  discovery  with  a  vim. 
Taking  out  mineral  from  a  mine  of  our  own  was 
quite  exhilerating.  Before  this  our  work  had  been 
on  "indications"  except  the  Pulaska  and  it  was  very 
little  better.  We  were  always  hopeful,  but  hope 
with  something  in  sight  was  a  new  experience  in 
our  mining  career.  There  might  be  a  fortune  near 
at  hand,  at  least  the  prospects  were  fine  in  that 
direction.  To  me  it  was  very  gratifying  to  know 
that  Daniel  would  be  an  equal  partner. 

Our  mine  was  near  a  pathway,  not  trail,  leading 
from  Georgetown  to  a  huckleberry  patch  of  nearly 
a  hundred  acres.  The  little  bushes  grew  about 
twelve  inches  high,  thick  with  small  limbs,  on 
which  the  berries  grew.  In  former  years  I  had 
gathered  the  same  kind  of  berries  from  bushes 
higher  than  my  head,  on  the  Cumberland  Moun- 
tains. The  tinner  made  a  device  with  prongs,  and 
a  tin  cup  attached,  by  which  the  berries  could  be 
gathered  without  picking  them.  One  person  could 
gather  two  gallons  in  less  than  an  hour.  From 
twenty  to  fifty  people  passed  by  our  mine  every 
day  as  long  as  the  berries  lasted. 

Further  along  and  below  the  place  where  the 
loose  rock  had  given  us  a  close  call,  there  was  a 
two  or  three-acre  patch  of  red  raspberries,  also 
ripe  at  that  time.  Due  to  this  fact  many  people  went 
there.  This  place  was  also  the  home  of  the  coney 
rabbit,  a  little  animal  about  the  size  of  a  big  rat, 
though  size  and  shape  of  the  rabbit.  They  seemed 
to  be  busy  putting  up  their  winter  supplies.  These 
were  the  only  conies  I  ever  saw.  And  these  two 
kinds  of  berries,  found  at  no  other  place,  are  the 


134  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

only  two  things  fit  for  people  to  eat  that  I  ever 
saw  growing  in  these  high  altitudes. 

The  many  people  passing  soon  spread  the  news 
around  that  we  were  opening  a  number  of  valuable 
mines  on  the  north  slope  of  Leavenworth  Moun- 
tain, which  brought  us  a  different  class  of  visitors. 
There  were  four  classes  of  miners:  (1)  the  man 
that  worked  by  the  day  and  took  no  chances ;  (2) 
taking  a  lease  on  a  mine  or  discovery  with  a  writ- 
ten or  oral  agreement;  (3)  the  prospector,  and  to 
this  class  I  had  the  honor  of  being  a  member;  (4) 
the  man  that  took  an  option  on  a  mine,  and  if  he 
sold  it  retained  the  better  part  for  himself. 

Our  visitors  referred  to,  belonged  to  class  No. 
2.  If  we  were  opening  up  mines  as  reported  pos- 
sibly they  might  get  a  good  lease.  I  explained  to 
them  that  we  had  numerous  discoveries  and  many 
of  them  no  doubt  might  be  paying  mines  when  pro- 
perly developed.  After  going  over  the  different  cuts 
with  six  or  eight  parties,  three  of  them  decided  to 
take  leases.  We  had  already  built  a  trail  up  that 
side  of  the  mountain  in  order  to  carry  our  ore  to 
the  mill.  Pope  wrote  the  lease  giving  them  all  they 
might  take  out  for  the  first  six  months,  binding 
them  to  work  the  mine  so  as  to  leave  it  in  good 
shape.  We  were  anxious  to  see  some  of  these  "in- 
dications" at  a  depth  of  seventy-five  or  a  hundred 
feet. 

Some  men  made  good  money  on  leases.  I  will 
mention  one  instance  and  could  mention  others. 
Judge  Coules  discovered  a  small  pay  streak  on  the 
hill  above  the  Equator.  His  two  sons,  Mart  and 
Clay,  by  drifting  on  the  vein  could  gain  depth  from 
the  surface  as  fast  as  sinking  a  shaft,  and  the  min- 
eral paid  some  more  than  wages.  The  boys  were 
good  miners,  yet  for  some  cause  they  lost  the  pay 
streak.  Continuing  the  drift  forty  or  fifty  feet  fur- 
ther leaving  behind  them  what  they  supposed  was 
the  sleek,  smooth,  hanging  wall,  and  not  finding 
any  mineral,  concluded  to  quit  at  least  for  awhile. 

My  special  friend  Tom  Pirtle  belonged  to  class 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  135 

No.  2  and  with  candle  and  pick  entered  the  drift 
with  a  view  of  taking  a  lease  if  things  looked  fa- 
vorable. In  a  half  accidental  way  he  picked  in 
through  the  supposed  hanging  wall  and  found  two 
or  three  inches  of  solid  rich  mineral.  He  lost  no 
time  in  taking  a  lease  to  have  all  he  could  take  out 
of  the  mine  for  two  months.  With  his  brother  and 
two  hired  men  they  took  out  $11,000.  by  the  time 
the  lease  expired.  This  was  a  little  fortune  to  the 
boys,  so  they  left  for  their  home  in  Nebraska. 

With  a  positive  knowledge  of  the  above  facts 
before  us  it  seems  strange  we  did  not  at  least  put 
in  one  shot  in  the  sleek  wall  of  the  Webster  dis- 
covery. It  is  my  opinion  even  at  this  late  day  that 
there  might  have  been  maybe  a  foot  of  mineral 
behind  that  wall.  No  doubt  it  remains  just  as  we 
left  it  over  forty  years  ago.  Possibly  it  may  wait 
for  my  return  to  earth  a  second  or  third  time ;  if  so 
there  is  a  gloomy  uncertainty  hanging  over  its  fu- 
ture development.  If  one  should  wish  to  know  more 
let  him  ask  the  whistling  winds. 

Some  one  had  built  a  large  cabin,  and  by  econo- 
mizing space  eight  of  us  were  now  occupying  it, 
and  the  work  vigorously  pressed  with  hopeful  re- 
sults. This  was  our  time  to  finish  making  the  spoon 
or  spoil  the  horn.  Two  of  our  lessees  went  down 
seventy-five  feet  and  the  other  eighty-five  feet  be- 
fore hanging  up  the  fiddle.  We  drifted  east  and 
west  on  our  mines,  and  then  went  down  toward 
China  until  patience  and  fortitude  ceased  to  be  a 
virtue.  At  least  one  consolation,  we  had  taken 
out  enough  mineral  to  pay  fairly  good  wages,  so 
did  not  have  to  call  on  our  partners  to  make  good 
their  part  of  the  expense. 

The  old  cabin  in  the  city  made  us  feel  like  getting 
back  home.  We  had  about  run  our  length  and  done 
our  do.  The  "Boom  Ditch  Co."  was  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  no  use  to  whine  over  results.  We  talked 
some  of  going  further  west  and  maybe  our  luck 
would  change.  Everything  in  sight  had  vanished, 
except  working  by  the  day,  but  this  was  no  part  of 


136  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

my  program.  I  spent  nearly  every  night,  two  or 
three  hours  for  a  few  weeks,  playing  chess  with  a 
friend.  His  wife  and  I  played  against  him ;  we  dis- 
cussed our  moves  and  their  result,  and  then  he 
moved  to  suit  himself.  We  sometimes  beat  him, 
though  he  was  the  best  in  the  city. 

Occasionally  I  met  my  old  friend,  of  several  years' 
standing,  Bill  Moore.  He  no  longer  wore  the  garb 
of  a  miner  for  he  had  quit  that  kind  of  business. 
He  was  two  or  three  years  younger  than  myself, 
had  no  education,  could  scarcely  write  his  name, 
but  he  had  energy  and  "cheek"  to  make  up  for 
that  deficiency.  At  that  time  he  had  made  three 
or  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  selling  mines  that 
did  not  belong  to  him.  Mr.  Rodgers  who  lived  with 
his  family  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  a  hundred  feet 
below  my  cabin  had  discovered  a  mine  and  named 
it  for  himself.  Moore  paid  him  $50,000  for  it  and 
kept  for  himself  $100,000.  He  went  to  St.  Louis, 
Chicago  and  other  cities  in  order  to  make  his 
mining  deals,  but  invested  his  money  in  and  around 
Lincoln,  a  new  town  just  starting  up  in  Nebraska. 
Tom  Johns,  another  one  of  the  boys,  was  in  the 
same  business  and  not  far  behind  him.  Moore  often 
told  me  if  I  ever  expected  to  make  big  money  I 
would  have  to  quit  throwing  dirt. 

On  my  own  part  I  had  made  my  mind  to  leave 
Georgetown,  but  Daniel  was  undecided.  I  could 
not  afford  to  persuade  him  to  follow  me,  for  there 
was  no  telling  what  wild  venture  I  might  under- 
take. I  had  now  been  away  from  my  native  home 
over  seven  long  years.  My  efforts  in  a  manner  had 
been  a  failure,  from  my  standpoint  of  what  con- 
stituted a  success.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  dearly 
bought  experience  which  every  man  needs  in  the 
battle  of  life,  but  his  feelings  prompt  him  to  want 
something  else  as  a  recompense.  My  better  judg- 
ment appealed  to  me  to  return  home  and  take  up 
the  thread  of  life  where  I  had  left  it,  but  my  pride 
of  purpose  stood  in  the  way. 

The  snow  was  disappearing  rapidly  from  lower 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  137 

points  and  I  was  hesitating  and  fully  realized 
that  I  must  make  a  decision  now  that  would  affect 
my  destiny  for  years  to  come.  While  in  this  state 
of  uncertainty  I  received  a  letter  from  Judge  Har- 
mon in  Denver  telling  me  of  a  party  there  wishing 
to  buy  a  big  mine  for  only  a  little  money.  This 
seemed  to  me  more  like  a  joke  than  business,  but 
he  advised  me  to  pack  up  some  fine  samples  from 
the  Pulaska,  come  to  Denver  and  help  him  talk  a 
sale  of  the  property. 

In  due  course  of  time  I  received  an  introduction 
to  the  parties  referred  to  in  Judge  Harmon's  letter. 
The  parley  that  ensued  for  the  next  several  days 
would  be  too  tedious  to  relate.  I  told  them  the 
mineral  vein  was  five  or  six  feet  in  width  and  con- 
tained mineral  like  the  samples.  That  by  a  tunnel 
four  or  five  hundred  feet  the  mine  would  be  tapped 
three  or  four  hundred  feet  deep  and  from  the  mouth 
of  the  tunnel  the  ore  could  be  delivered,  on  an 
easy  grade,  by  a  car  into  a  mill  already  built  for 
the  treatment  of  ore.  As  they  were  willing  to  pur- 
chase a  big  mine  for  small  money  we  set  our  price 
at  only  $25,000. 

Very  few  questions,  if  any  at  all,  were  asked  in 
regard  to  the  value  of  the  ore.  To  verify  my  word 
about  the  mine  I  proposed  to  pay  all  expenses  of 
any  one  they  might  designate,  if  he  found  it  misrep- 
resented. They  had  made  a  rough  calculation  that  it 
would  take  $8,000.  to  run  the  tunnel  and  that  $15,- 
000.  was  all  they  would  invest  in  the  venture,  leav- 
ing only  $7,000.  in  actual  cash  to  pay  us.  At  first 
Pope  and  Harmon  were  opposed  to  accepting  their 
offer,  but  I  explained  to  them  that  the  mine  was 
worth  nothing  to  us,  and  that  this  money  would 
pay  them  back  three  or  four  times  as  much  money 
as  they  had  expended,  so  we  finally  agreed  to  ac- 
cept their  proposition. 

While  this  deal  was  going  on,  another,  in  some 
respects  more  important,  was  working  itself  to 
the  front.  The  Government  had  bought  part  of  the 
Ute  Indian  reservation,  and  from  the  glowing  ac- 


138  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

counts  in  the  papers  it  was  rich  in  mineral.  A 
banker  by  the  name  of  Collins  as  a  partner  with 
Mr.  Harmon  proposed  to  pay  me  two-thirds  of  all 
expenses,  including  wages  at  $4.00  per  day,  to  go 
into  this  section  and  we  would  be  one-third  owners 
in  all  I  might  find.  As  I  wanted  to  see  more  of  the 
Western  country,  I  accepted  their  proposition  to 
take  effect  as  soon  as  we  completed  our  mining 
sale,  which  would  require  only  a  short  while. 

Returning  to  Georgetown  with  the  party  desig- 
nated we  visited  the  Pulaska  next  day,  and  he  was 
highly  pleased.  I  told  Daniel  about  my  expected  trip 
through  the  mountains  and  found  he  would  like 
to  go  with  me,  in  fact  I  was  anxious  for  him  to  go, 
but  did  not  want  to  insist  or  even  advise  him  to  do 
so.  We  called  on  our  friend  Tom  Johns  at  his  room 
in  the  hotel.  After  a  conference  lasting  an  hour 
or  two  he  took  Daniel's  receipt  for  $200.00  and 
they  were  to  be  equal  partners  in  the  discoveries, 
virtually  the  same  arrangement  I  had  made  with 
the  parties  in  Denver. 

This  man  Johns  was  a  shrewd  trader  and  had 
made  over  $200,000.  selling  and  dealing  in  mines. 
He  had  this  actual  cash  in  a  leather  valise  or  grip 
which  he  carried  in  his  hand  swung  across  his 
shoulder  by  a  strap.  He  had  a  tinner  to  make  tin 
boxes,  with  hinges  to  them,  of  a  certain  size  to 
hold  $500.,  $100.,  $50.  and  $20.  dollar  bills.  The  grip 
and  its  contents  would  not  weigh  over  six  or  eight 
pounds.  He  expected  to  start  in  a  few  days,  so  he 
said,  out  through  Utah  and  other  Western  sections 
on  a  speculating  detour,  and  wanted  to  have  his 
money  with  him.  According  to  his  idea  it  was  too 
much  money  to  risk  in  the  banks. 

A  favorable  report  on  the  Pulaska  mine  consu- 
mated  the  deal  and  the  money  was  ready  on  pre- 
sentation of  the  deed  but  one  of  the  owners  was 
absent.  I  had  received  a  postal  card  from  Burk- 
holder  at  Halls  Gulch,  out  in  the  mountains  about 
seventy  miles  west  of  Denver.  As  it  was  very  un- 
certain about  getting  a  letter  to  him  quickly,  Judge 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  139 

Harmon  went  with  me  to  a  livery  stable  and  we 
hired  a  suitable  conveyance  to  make  the  trip.  That 
evening  I  drove  out  to  the  head  of  Turkey  Canyon 
about  thirty  miles. 

Halls  Gulch  was  a  place  of  one  store  and  a  few 
other  buildings.  I  had  feed  for  my  team  with  me, 
and  for  some  cause  quite  a  number  of  men  were 
standing  around,  some  of  them  pitching  horse  shoes, 
others  seeing  it.  I  saw  several  parties  that  knew 
Burkholder  and  they  told  me  he  and  others  had 
left  for  Oro  City,  about  forty  miles  distant,  ex- 
pecting to  make  part  of  the  trip  on  snowshoes. 
They  also  told  me  there  was  a  way  of  reaching 
that  place  by  going  through  Fairplay,  and  then 
some  hundred  and  fifty  miles  or  more  still  further, 
with  practically  a  good  road  and  no  snow  all  the 
way. 

Being  on  the  job  to  stay,  after  night  overtook 
me  I  let  the  ponies  do  their  own  driving,  and  about 
nine  o'clock  they  stopped  in  front  of  a  livery  stable, 
perhaps  they  had  been  there  before.  I  had  traveled 
all  day  over  good  roads  in  an  altitude  of  10,000 
feet,  another  1,000  feet  in  height  would  have  been 
above  timber  line,  and  had  made  seventy  miles, 
paying  out  $3.00  at  the  different  toll  gates.  Next 
morning  I  could  plainly  see  a  mountain  range  five 
or  six  miles  distant,  bearing  off  toward  the  west, 
yet  covered  with  snow.  A  man  offered  for  $10.00 
to  furnish  the  snowshoes  and  lead  the  way  through 
Mosquito  Pass  over  to  Oro  City  only  fiften  miles 
away.  But  I  was  not  in  the  snowshoe  business. 

The  memory  of  this  long  trip  and  the  events  are 
still  fresh  in  my  mind,  but  time  and  space  warn 
me  that  most  of  them  must  be  left  out  of  this  nar- 
rative. Middle  Park  is  a  level  tract  of  land  in  the 
heart  of  the  mountains,  suitable  for  grazing  in 
the  summer  season.  It  was  fifty  miles  to  Chubb's 
ranch  on  the  head  of  Trout  Creek,  and  not  a  house 
of  any  kind  on  the  way.  Three  or  four  miles  out 
on  my  journey  I  noticed  a  number  of  men  working 
in  a  pit  fifty  or  seventy-five  feet  in  diameter  and 


140  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

about  twenty  feet  deep.  As  this  was  something  new 
to  me  I  halted  a  few  minutes  to  see  what  they 
were  doing  and  how  they  did  it. 

They  were  using  a  derrick  run  by  a  small  engine, 
and  with  a  large  iron  scoop  were  depositing  sand 
and  gravel  in  a  flue  on  top  of  the  ground,  partly 
filled  with  water.  A  gentleman  came  forward  and 
we  shook  hands.  I  readily  recognized  him  as  Mr. 
Clark  for  whom  I  had  worked  on  the  Terrible  mine. 
He  was  a  rich  man  now  but  still  hunting  for  some- 
thing bigger  than  ever.  I  learned  from  him  that  he 
was  taking  out  some  gold  but  expected  to  find 
better  pay  on  reaching  the  bed  rock.  Six  days  later, 
on  my  return  trip,  bed  rock  had  not  been  found, 
the  derrick  had  fallen,  which  killed  one  man,  and 
that  man  was  Mr.  Clark.  The  irony  of  Fate  or  some 
other  decree  had  called  him  to  a  higher  court. 

Next  day  at  the  mouth  of  Trout  Creek  I  crossed 
the  Arkansas  River  and  made  an  acute  angle  bear- 
ing east  of  north,  and  recrossed  the  river  next  day 
near  Granite  City.  This  village  was  in  a  fever  of 
excitement  over  the  killing  of  a  man  in  the  court 
room  during  a  trial.  It  was  yet  twenty-five  miles 
to  my  point  of  destination.  About  three  miles  above 
the  city  I  found  an  obstruction  across  the  road.  A 
large  flat  boulder  and  part  of  the  bank  had  filled 
the  road  two-thirds  full  for  ten  or  fifteen  feet 
making  it  impossible  for  me  to  pass  without  assist- 
ance. 

Unhitching  the  team  and  pushing  back  the  buggy 
a  hundred  yards  I  turned  it  around  and  was  soon 
on  the  way  back  to  Granite  City  but  I  failed  to 
find  any  one  willing  to  assist  me  until  I  approached 
a  man  hammering  on  a  piece  of  hot  iron.  I  asked 
him  the  question  if  he  was  a  mason,  and  after  a 
brief  conversation  he  banked  his  fires,  took  a  ham- 
mer and  a  wrench,  and  went  with  me.  He  seemed 
to  know  exactly  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. 
Taking  the  tongue  and  wheels  off,  we  lifted  the 
balance  of  the  conveyance  over  the  obstruction.  It 
took  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  to  put  me  on  my 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  141 

journey.  The  dashing  waters  of  the  river  could  be 
seen  and  heard  fifty  feet  below.  I  offered  and  in- 
sisted on  paying  him  for  his  trouble,  but  not  a  cent 
would  he  receive,  telling  me  it  was  not  a  money 
job. 

I  reached  the  mouth  of  California  Gulch  between 
sundown  and  dark.  When  darkness  overtook  me  I 
still  held  the  lines  but  the  ponies  did  their  own  driv- 
ing, as  it  was  too  dark  for  me  to  see  the  road.  At 
last  a  gleam  of  light  in  the  distance  caught  my  eye. 
When  the  team  stopped  I  could  see  men  in  a  room 
paying  cards,  but  could  not  make  them  hear  me. 
I  was  numb  with  cold  and  fatigue ;  finally  when 
they  came  out  one  of  them  assisted  me  into  the 
house.  A  cup  of  hot  coffee  and  a  warm  supper 
brought  me  to  the  fore,  right  side  up  with  care. 
If  any  man  shauld  presume  to  say  that  traveling 
through  a  strange  country  on  a  very  dark  night 
was  a  species  of  fun  and  amusement,  he  might 
open  up  a  good  case  for  impeaching  his  veracity. 

In  commencing  my  search  for  Burkholder  next 
morning  I  soon  learned  that  the  object  of  my  long 
drive  through  the  mountains  was  liable  to  prove 
a  failure.  I  made  it  a  point  to  ask  everyone  I  met 
if  he  knew  a  man  by  the  name  of  Burkholder  and 
received  the  same  negative  answer  from  each  one. 
I  was  not  much  surprised  at  this  for  we  had  been 
partners  in  the  prospecting  business  for  three  or 
four  months  before  I  knew  his  name,  in  fact  did  not 
know  it  until  we  organized  the  Leavenworth  Boom 
Ditch  Co. 

Oro  City  was  simply  a  placer  mining  village 
that  had  been  on  wheels,  so  to  speak,  from  the 
mouth  of  California  Gulch.  Parties  had  been  sluic- 
ing for  gold  in  this  gulch  for  ten  years  past  and 
had  gradually  moved  their  camp  higher  up  the 
gulch  as  the  gold  deposits  were  worked  out  below. 
They  expected  ultimately  to  find  the  mother  lode 
where  the  gold  had  its  origin,  and  then  commence 
quartz  mining  on  the  vein  which  is  often  more 
profitable.  At  several  places,  on  my  return  trip, 


142  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

I  noticed  banks  forty  feet  high  with  a  chasm  a 
hundred  feet  wide,  while  at  other  places  the  banks 
were  lower  showing-  the  bed  rock  was  much  nearer 
the  surface.  I  noticed  one  place  in  particular  where 
my  buggy  wheel  had  run  within  a  foot  of  a  forty- 
foot  bank,  but  I  did  not  know  it  at  the  time. 

In  the  head  of  the  chasm  or  gulch  six  or  eight 
men  were  working  and  I  went  down  among  them 
to  make  inquiry.  They  were  using  two  large  noz- 
zles, which  under  hydraulic  pressure  were  throwing 
water  against  the  banks,  the  water  carrying  off  the 
sand,  dirt  and  small  gravel  through  a  flue  pre- 
pared in  the  regular  way  for  catching  the  gold. 
Several  men  were  moving  boulders,  large  and  small 
so  as  to  assist  the  water  in  doing  its  work.  This 
was  the  most  systematic  way  of  gulch  mining  I 
had  ever  seen,  and  reduced  the  labor  to  a  minimum. 

The  only  man  I  could  find  that  knew  Burkholder 
was  the  one  merchant  of  the  city.  He  had  sold 
Burkholder  a  bill  of  supplies  for  him  and  his  com- 
panions, but  did  not  know  how  far  or  which  way 
it  was  to  their  camp.  As  it  was  yet  early  in  the 
day  I  decided  to  take  a  tramp  through  the  hills 
and  ravines  to  see  if  I  could  find  them.  This  gave 
me  an  opportunity  as  a  prospector  to  examine  the 
mineral  croppings  of  that  particular  section.  Per- 
haps I  walked  ten  miles  or  more  as  the  ground  was 
not  nearly  so  rough  or  precipituous  as  I  had  been 
used  to. 

Possibly  it  would  have  been  greatly  to  my  in- 
terest had  I  remained  there  another  day,  or  even 
several  days,  and  continued  my  tramping  with  pick 
and  shovel.  It  is  always  a  hard  and  difficult  thing 
for  a  man  to  wear  his  "fore"  sights,  where  there  is 
a  strong  element  of  uncertainty,  but  I  picked  up 
during  the  day  a  number  of  fine  float  specimens, 
and  saw  three  or  four  of  those  gray  ashbank  indi- 
cations which  led  me  to  know  from  experience 
that  lead,  and  maybe  silver,  could  be  easily  found, 
and  a  few  years  later,  was  found  in  large  quanti- 
ties. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  143 

To  prove  the  correctness  of  this  idea  and  state- 
ment, in  less  than  five  years  from  that  time  a  flour- 
ishing" city,  called  Leadville,  with  a  population  of 
20,000  inhabitants  was  built  up  there  in  the  vici- 
nity of  Oro  City.  It  was  the  largest  strictly  mining 
town  in  all  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Georgetown, 
less  than  a  hundred  miles  distant  in  a  straight  line, 
once  had  a  population  of  5,000,  and  Cripple  Creek 
12,000  or  15,000;  they  were  the  next  largest. 

As  my  expenses  were  $14.00  per  day  it  looked 
like  burning  up  too  much  money,  though  later  I 
could  see  this  was  a  mistake  on  my  part,  so  I  con- 
cluded to  write  Burkholder  a  letter,  telling  him  all 
the  particulars,  and  left  it  with  the  merchant,  ex- 
plaining to  him  its  importance.  On  my  return  I 
made  the  regular  fifty  miles  per  day  except  the 
last  lap  of  thirty  miles.  It  was  eighteen  miles  down 
Turkey  Canyon,  and  then  twelve  further  to  Den- 
ver. Both  ponies  were  lame  in  their  front  feet,  so 
had  to  let  them  walk.  It  was  dark  when  I  drove  in 
the  home  stable.  I  had  been  absent  ten  days  and 
expected  to  pay  him  $100.00  but  he  reduced  the 
bill,  of  his  own  accord,  to  $70.00. 

Of  course  I  met  Judge  Harmon  and  explained  to 
him  the  results  of  the  trip.  We  both  called  on  the 
purchasers  of  the  Pulaska,  but  found  they  were  un- 
willing to  pay  the  money  until  all  parties  had  signed 
the  deed.  We  assured  them  that  Burkholder  would 
be  on  hand  in  ten  days  or  less  time,  and  they  agreed 
to  wait.  Really  we  were  afraid  they  might  back  out. 
Daniel  had  arranged  with  four  other  men  that  on 
my  return  six  of  us  would  pay  a  teamster  that  had 
agreed  to  take  us  to  Del  Norte  for  $20.00  each.  I 
gave  Judge  Harmon  power  of  attorney  to  collect 
my  money,  and  we  started  on  our  long  trip. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PROSPECTING     IN     THE     SAN     JUAN     COUNTRY. 
LARGE  MINERAL  VEINS  BUT  LOW  GRADE  ORE. 
A  LONG  TRIP  OF  250  MILES.    FAILED  TO  REACH 
GUNNISON   MINES.     INDIAN   TROUBLE.     DIS- 
COURAGED  RETURNED   TO   GEORGETOWN. 
AGREED  WITH  MY  PARTNERS  TO  MAKE 
ANOTHER      TRIP      INTO      THE      MINES. 
RETURN    TO    MY    NATIVE    HOME    TO 
STAY. 

Beginning  a  new  chapter  is  also  the  beginning 
of  a  new  venture.  The  estimated  distance  to  Del 
Norte  was  three  hundred  miles.  With  nice  spring 
seats,  an  easy  running  wagon  and  a  spanking  good 
team,  the  driver  expected  to  make  an  average  of 
forty  miles  per  day,  and  at  this  rate  reach  our  des- 
tination in  seven  days.  I  had  just  made  fifty  miles 
a  day  and  in  higher  altitudes.  As  our  board  was  in- 
cluded in  the  price  of  transportation,  he  hired  an 
extra  man  to  do  the  cooking.  The  supplies  were 
carried  with  us  and  we  were  not  overly  hard  to 
please,  so  they  did  not  cost  much.  Riding  all  day 
long  for  a  whole  week  grows  monotonous  and  tire- 
some, otherwise  we  had  a  pleasant  time  and  a  good 
chance  to  see  the  country. 

On  the  third  day  we  passed  through  Manitou, 
and  circling  around  Pike's  Peak,  camped  a  little 
north  of  where  Cripple  Creek  is  now  located.  Of 
course  we  all  expected  to  get  rich  in  the  new  "El- 
dorado" of  the  San  Juan  (San  Wan)  country,  and 
were  in  high  glee  over  the  prospects.  There  is 
nothing  like  a  high-grade  incentive  behind  a  man's 
movements.  We  had  lots  to  talk  about,  and  nothing 
else  to  do,  so  camp  life  was  very  like  a  pastime. 

We   reached     Del     Norte,   situated  on  the   Rio 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  145 

Grande  River,  a  little  before  noon  on  the  seventh 
day.  From  this  point  the  real  tug  of  war  com- 
menced. It  was  a  hundred  miles  to  the  head  waters 
of  the  river,  and  then  ten  miles  further  to  Bakers 
Park,  the  supposed  center  of  the  new  mining  re- 
or  the  mill  would  be  of  no  further  service.  It  was 
gion.  The  necessary  equipment  to  make  this  jour- 
ney was  the  next  thing  in  order.  We  knew  every- 
thing needed  in  prospecting  and  developing  a  mine 
if  such  was  found,  also  we  knew  the  largest  amount 
of  supplies  possible,  would  all  have  to  be  carried 
with  us,  for  such  things  as  these  would  be  hard  to 
get  in  a  new  mining  camp. 

One  of  the  very  important  things  was  to  pur- 
chase two  good  pack  animals.  There  were  two  bur- 
ros' corrals  near  the  town  owned  by  two  Mexicans, 
an  dthey,  the  burros,  were  there  for  sale.  The  price 
of  these  little  animals  ranged  from  $10.00  to  $30.00 
according  to  size  and  age.  They  were  gentle  and 
easy  to  handle,  in  fact  they  are  "born  that  way." 
Using  our  best  judgment  we  selected  two  of  the 
best  ones.  We  gave  a  greaser  fifty  cents  to  select 
two  good  pack  saddles  and  show  us  how  to  do  the 
packing  act.  He  showed  us  how  to  tie  knots  that 
would  not  slip,  and  taught  us  the  secret  of  the 
"diamond  hitch"  by  which  the  pack  was  kept  to 
its  place  up  or  down  hill. 

We  drove  out  eight  or  ten  miles  the  first  evening 
and  selected  a  good  camping  place  which  contained 
of  wood,  water  and  grass,  three  indispensable 
things.  One  of  the  commendable  qualities  of  these 
little  animals  is  that  with  plenty  of  grass  they  will 
stay  near  camp,  and  frequently  come  in  at  day- 
light to  get  a  taste  of  salt.  They  will  carry  a  hun- 
dred to  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  all  day  and 
never  sulk.  He  needs  no  shoes  for  his  feet,  and  can 
go  anywhere  a  man  can  go  without  using  his  hands. 
So  much  said  for  the  donkey,  and  I  ought  to  know 
him  well. 

Fifty  miles  on  our  journey  we  passed  Wagon 
Wheel  Gap  which  was  the  limit  of  the  expedition 


146  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

led  by  John  C.  Fremont  seeking  a  low  pass  in  the 
Continental  Divide.  Two  old  wagon  wheels  were 
on  the  side  of  the  road  said  to  be  part  of  his  train. 
The  river  passes  through  a  gorge  at  this  place  a 
mile  long,  and  it  was  five  miles  over  a  rough  moun- 
tain to  get  back  into  the  valley. 

At  Pole  Creek  we  found  several  parties  unable 
to  get  across.  After  10  or  11  A.  M.  until  midnight, 
the  creek  was  a  raging  torrent,  but  in  the  early 
morning  it  could  be  crossed  with  safety.  One  of  the 
men  went  up  the  creek  and  killed  a  mountain  sheep 
and  brought  the  hind-quarters  into  camp,  but  for 
my  part  I  preferred  taking  a  rest  instead  of  hunt- 
ing. Next  morning  our  donkeys  easily  took  the 
lead.  Usually  I  walked  in  front  to  pick  the  best 
part  of  the  road,  and  they  soon  learned  to  follow 
my  footsteps.  The  numerous  little  branches,  some 
of  them  knee  deep,  we  paid  no  more  attention  to 
than  if  they  had  been  dry  land. 

On  the  sixth  day  we  crossed  the  "Great  Divide." 
There  were  yet  patches  of  snow  in  low  places.  A 
deep  ravine  was  down  below  us,  and  the  moun- 
tain was  steep.  We  could  look  up  the  canyon  and 
see  a  beautiful  cascade,  formed  by  melting  snow, 
pitching  off  a  cliff  not  less  than  1,000  feet  high.  We 
struck  camp  that  night  about  a  mile  above  Bullion 
City,  so-called,  on  the  Animus  River  which  flows 
westward  and  finally  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

In  talking  with  several  parties  that  evening  and 
night  I  learned  from  them  that  a  number  of  pros- 
pectors were  up  the  river  about  eight  miles  at  the 
mouth  of  Eureka  Gulch.  This  is  where  Baker  and 
five  of  his  comrades  were  massacred  by  the  Indians 
a  few  years  previous,  two  of  them  escaping  to  tell 
the  tale  of  horror.  Their  representation  of  vast 
mineral  deposits  led  the  Government  to  purchase 
the  Indians'  claim  to  the  country,  though  some  of 
them  were  still  displeased  about  it  and  frequently 
went  on  the  war-path. 

On  reaching  that  point  next  day  we  found  much 
nicer  camping  ground,  and  soon  formed  the  ac- 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  147 

quaintance  of  other  prospectors.  Three  or  four  of 
them  had  already  made  a  big  discovery,  and  in 
their  vivid  imagination  were  quite  wealthy,  or  soon 
would  be.  On  invitation  we  visited  their  mine  and 
found  it  big  enough,  in  fact  larger  than  the  Pulas- 
ka.  It  was  hard  to  tell  where  it  commenced  or 
ended.  There  was  no  break  in  the  granite  rock  to 
indicate  the  walls  of  a  mine,  such  as  we  had  been 
used  to  see  incasing  a  vein  either  large  or  small. 
They  were  very  kind  in  explaining  to  us  the  na- 
ture of  mineral  deposits  and  how  to  determine  their 
value,  taking  great  pride  in  pointing  out  to  us  the 
spots  and  streaks  of  ruby  silver  seen  in  their  spe- 
cimens of  ore.  As  we  had  been  in  the  business  of 
prospecting  only  seven  or  eight  years  we  readily 
conceded  to  them  a  superiority  of  knowledge.  I 
had  often  been  in  their  fix  and  well  knew  that 
"where  ignorance  is  bliss  it  is  folly  to  be  wise." 
They  presented  us  with  several  small  specimens 
of  their  ore  to  carry  in  our  pockets  as  a  "mascot" 
to  give  us  luck  in  rinding  a  mine  of  the  same  kind. 

Leaving  our  new  found  friends  we  proceeded  to 
trace  the  croppings  of  their  mine,  which  was  easily 
done  as  there  was  nothing  but  bare  rocks  all  the 
way,  a  distance  of  a  quarter  mile  or  perhaps  2000 
feet.  We  made  a  discovery  of  our  own,  however, 
as  we  had  no  drill  with  us  we  passed  on  to  see  if 
some  other  mine  was  waiting  to  be  located.  We 
made  a  kind  of  preliminary  survey  of  the  country 
that  day,  passing  by  the  spot  where  Baker  and  his 
men  lost  their  lives.  A  few  rusty  shovels  and  other 
tools  bore  a  silent  testimony  to  the  sad  fate  of  their 
former  owners,  but  such  is  often  the  ending  of  an 
early  western  life. 

In  a  measure  we  now  had  a  secondary  interest 
in  the  "Ruby  Mine"  (maybe  that  was  its  name) 
by  virtue  of  a  discovery  on  its  extension.  Due  to 
this  fact  and  partly  through  curiosity  I  decided  to 
take  out  my  blowpipe  and  see  how  it  stood  the 
recent  400-mile  trip,  with  a  view  of  making  an 
assay  on  the  "mascot"  specimen.  The  little  Wedge- 


148  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

wood  mortar  and  pestle  was  all  right.  I  soon 
made  a  few  bone-ash  cupels,  and  in  a  short  time  a 
small  part  of  the  specimen,  was  under  the  "blue 
blaze."  Ruby  silver  is  nearly  a  third  pure  silver, 
and  I  might  expect  a  nice  little  button  as  a  result, 
but  instead  it  went  into  thin  air  and  only  a  trace 
of  silver  was  left,  possibly  six  or  eight  ounces  to 
the  ton. 

Our  friends  paid  us  a  social  visit  that  night,  and 
we  told  them  of  making  a  discovery  on  the  exten- 
sion of  their  mine,  and  that  it  was  our  intention 
to  cross-cut  the  entire  width  of  the  vein  with  a 
view  of  finding  the  core  or  rich  streak  if  such 
existed.  We  also  showed  them  our  y%  drills,  two  of 
them  eighteen  and  two  nine  inches  long  all  sharp 
and  ready  for  use.  Each  one  of  us  by  using  a  three- 
pound  hammer  drilled  a  hole,  and  then  a  little  stick 
of  giant  powder  or  dynamite  did  the  work.  We 
learned  this  from  Mr.  Glenn  formerly  mentioned. 

Drills  in  constant  use  require  sharpening  and 
the  nearest  place  for  that  kind  of  work  was  Bullion 
City,  six  miles  distant.  This  fact  forced  us  to  build 
a  forge  of  our  own,  and  by  the  way  it  is  worth 
mentioning  how  it  is  done.  Build  a  rock  flue  about 
a  foot  in  diameter  at  the  base  and  gradually  draw 
in  to  six  inches,  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
then  flange  it  out  for  the  next  foot.  About  two  or 
three  inches  from  the  base  leave  an  apperture  2x4 
or  less,  to  insert  the  drill  or  point  of  the  pick.  If 
too  much  draft  at  any  time  the  place  can  be  closed 
by  a  rock  of  the  proper  size.  As  a  substitute  for 
an  anvil  we  used  a  small  steel  plate  1-4  inch  thick 
2x3,  fastened  on  a  stump  or  log. 

Ten  days  work  put  our  claim  in  proper  shape  for 
record.  The  "stuff"  when  first  brought  to  light  had 
a  metallic  appearance,  but  a  few  days  exposure  to 
the  air  turned  it  to  a  dingy  black.  I  made  a  dozen 
or  more  assays,  each  time  with  the  same  result, 
"nothing  doing."  We  might  have  quit  the  job,  but 
thought  maybe  there  might  be  a  rich  streak,  but 
it  was  not  there.  It  reminded  me  of  zink-blend, 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  149 

sometimes  called  "black-jack,"  and  is  about  as 
innocent  of  gold  or  silver  as  granite  itself.  Perhaps 
mines  of  this  character  are  yet  in  their  adolescent 
period,  and  in  the  course  of  a  thousand  years  or 
longer  they  will  be  valuable  for  future  generations. 

We  continued  to  prospect  for  several  days  higher 
up  on  the  mountain  on  both  sides  and  the  head  of 
Eureka  gulch.  It  was  much  preferable  to  find  a 
smaller  mine  with  richer  mineral,  something  like 
the  Robert  Lee,  formerly  mentioned,  for  instance. 
There  were  large  mines  of  little  value  around 
Georgetown,  but  there  were  smaller  ones  of  great 
value,  and  such  might  be  the  case  in  this  section 
of  the  country.  But  failing  to  find  anything  of  that 
kind  we  folded  our  tent  and  went  back  to  Bullion 
City  to  take  a  new  start. 

On  going  up  the  gulch,  we  came  down  the  first 
day,  we  noticed  the  beautiful  cascade  was  no  longer 
in  business,  the  supply  of  water  had  given  out.  We 
made  a  circuit  higher  on  the  mountain,  and  as  it 
happened  found  two  men  we  had  formerly  known, 
though  had  lost  sight  of  for  the  last  few  years. 
They  were  crossing  a  big  mine  just  as  we  had  done. 
I  took  a  specimen  of  their  best  mineral  to  our 
camp  and  found  it  just  like  ours.  I  was  slowJy 
making  up  my  mind  there  was  no  rich  mineral  in 
the  country,  but  did  not  want  to  reach  this  con- 
clusion until  I  had  tested  the  mineral  from  dis- 
coveries made  by  others  as  well  as  myself.  If  I 
could  find  some  one  with  a  rich  specimen  I  would 
visit  that  location. 

In  order  to  obtain  better,  grazing  for  our  burros 
we  moved  further  down  the  Animus,  which  was 
called  a  river,  though  in  size  was  only  a  creek, 
easily  forded  in  the  first  part  of  the  day.  It  was  our 
intention  in  starting  one  day  to  go  out  as  far  as 
the  Continental  Range,  perhaps  six  miles.  Men 
looking  for  a  needle  in  a  haystack  possibly  might 
find  it  near  the  top.  I  owned  a  small  telescope 
about  six  inches  long  kept  in  a  leather  case  with  a 
shoulder  strap.  When  extended  it  was  about  two 


150  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

feet  long  and  enabled  me  to  see  things  at  a  dis- 
tance, a  hundred  or  more  times  better. 

When  going  into  high  altitudes  I  usually  carried 
this  instrument  with  me.  Part  of  my  business  in 
the  country  was  to  see  things.  Like  the  miser  that 
never  gets  enough  gold,  so  with  the  eye  it  is  never 
feasted.  Ascending  the  mountain  a  short  distance 
we  concluded  to  take  a  look  at  Silverton  situated 
in  the  upper  end  of  Bakers  Park  and  about  three 
miles  distant.  To  our  great  surprise  we  could  see 
a  number  of  "Noble  Red  Men"  of  the  forest  riding 
around  and  others  on  their  way.  We  changed  our 
intended  trip  to  another  day,  and  started  to  the 
park  to  see  what  it  meant. 

As  it  happened  a  number  of  prospectors  and 
others  were  on  hand  and  had  staked  out  a  race 
track  in  the  park  by  the  time  we  got  there.  Ouray, 
the  big  Chief  of  the  Ute  tribe,  was  on  his  way  down 
to  the  Animus  valley,  about  thirty  miles  further, 
where  some  of  his  "big  braves"  were  threatening 
to  take  the  "war  path"  against  white  settlers.  This 
part  of  the  valley  was  included  in  the  purchase  by 
the  Government  yet  the  Indians,  some  of  them,  did 
not  want  to  give  it  up,  as  it  was  valuable  for  graz- 
ing purposes. 

Chief  Ouray  was  a  large  portly  Indian  of  over 
two  hundred  pounds.  He  wore  an  old  rusty  high 
crown  beaver  hat,  a  faded  yellow  vest  and  buck- 
skin pants.  It  seemed  to  me  his  mouth  was  at  least 
four  inches  from  corner  to  corner.  Like  other  In- 
dians he  had  very  little  to  say,  though  could  grunt 
out  a  few  English  words.  Some  ten  bucks  were 
along,  his  bodyguard  I  suppose,  all  riding  nice  sleek 
ponies.  Only  two  of  his  squaws  were  present,  both 
riding  astride  the  same  animal.  But  Ouray  was 
friendly  to  the  white  man  and  was  trying  to  keep 
peace. 

Baker's  Park  was  three  miles  wide  and  five  long, 
and  certain  parties  had  a  few  nice  ponies  picketed 
out  on  the  grass.  They  brought  several  in  to  race 
with  the  Chief's  ponies,  but  he  would  only  bet 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  151 

$5.00  on  each  race.  Out  of  ten  races  the  Chief  lost 
three.  The  last  race  was  a  close  one,  and  there  was 
some  contention  over  it.  After  this  the  Chief  said 
"Umph !  me  bet  no  more,  good  white  man,  big 
Indian  go,  want  peace."  Ouray  put  up  his  money 
like  a  good  gambler,  but  did  not  decide  the  winner 
of  the  race. 

We  met  three  of  the  men  that  camped  with  us  on 
Pole  Creek,  and  they  were  jubilant  over  their  pros- 
pects. They  had  beaten  us  to  the  "jug"  and  had 
taken  a  good  "swig"  in  the  shape  of  several  big 
discoveries.  With  pride  and  assurance  of  great 
wealth  they  showed  me  specimens  containing  near- 
ly half  gray  copper,  which  of  itself  is  twenty  per 
cent  pure  silver.  For  the  time  I  was  encouraged 
that  there  was  valuable  mineral  in  the  country, 
and  told  them  we  would  visit  their  mining  section 
at  an  early  date.  I  was  allowed  to  keep  a  small  spe- 
cimen. 

Silverton  was  rated  as  the  County  Site,  and  a 
nice  location  for  a  large  city,  which  is  more  than 
can  be  said  for  most  all  mining  towns.  We  found 
a  man  for  the  paltry  sum  of  $4.00  who  was  willing 
to  write  a  few  lines  in  a  blank  book,  and  then  fill 
out  the  blank  and  sign  his  name  as  Recorder.  After 
handing  back  the  change  for  a  $5.00  bill,  he  could 
afford  to  sit  back  with  an  air  of  assumed  importance 
of  holding  an  office. 

After  Ouray  left  the  crowd  dispersed.  In  order 
to  reach  camp  we  had  to  cross  the  Animus  which 
was  then  at  full  tide.  Where  the  water  was  shallow 
it  was  too  swift  to  be  safe,  so  we  found  a  good 
wading  place  and  it  circled  around  just  under  the 
chin,  and  good  cold  water  too.  The  first  thing  on 
docket  after  reaching  camp  was  to  find  out  what 
the  "blue  blaze"  said  about  the  sample  of  gray 
copper.  With  amazement  and  disappointment  I 
watched  it  vanish  into  thin  air.  There  was  no  use 
now  in  keeping  the  engagement,  just  as  well  stay 
on  our  own  side  of  the  river,  at  least  the  chances 
were  equally  as  good. 


152  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

In  prospecting  we  usually  carried  a  pick,  ham- 
mer, drill  and  a  few  sticks  of  giant  powder.  No 
use  looking  for  "indications"  for  there  were  none. 
We  had  not  even  worn  the  new  off  our  shovels,  in 
fact  had  very  little  use  for  them.  Perhaps  we  put 
twenty  shots,  on  as  many  discoveries,  trying  to 
find  mineral  that  would  pay  its  way  through  a  mill. 
I  invariably  made  an  assay  from  each  shot  and  each 
one  of  us  kept  a  sample  of  the  mineral,  wrapped 
in  a  piece  of  paper  and  numbered.  This  would  en- 
able us  to  make  a  report  of  our  work. 

We  had  no  idea  of  quitting  the  job.  The  con- 
tract was  for  the  summer  season,  and  our  inten- 
tion was  to  stay  with  it,  hit  or  miss.  We  were  about 
ready  to  move  our  camp  up  around  the  head 
waters  of  the  Animus,  some  fifteen  miles,  when  I 
received  a  leter  from  Judge  Harmon  telling  me 
the  sale  of  the  Pulaska  was  consummated,  and  the 
money  paid  over  in  full,  and  that  Burkholder  had 
paid  him,  for  me,  all  my  expenses  on  the  trip  hunt- 
ing him.  He  also  wrote  me  that  the  papers  were 
giving  very  favorable  reports  from  a  new  mining 
section  on  the  Gunnison  River,  and  suggested  that 
I  make  a  short  detour  through  that  country  and 
see  if  the  reports  were  true.  By  looking  on  the 
map,  which  doubtless  he  did,  the  distance  might  be 
estimated  at  about  seventy-five  miles. 

But  there  was  not  even  an  Indian  trail  connect- 
ing the  two  points.  The  only  practical  route  was 
to  go  to  Del  Norte  and  Saguache,  a  distance  of 
over  two  hundred  miles.  As  we  were  badly  rattled 
over  the  value  of  mines  in  that  section  we  con- 
cluded to  make  the  trip  and  on  the  way  prospect 
up  the  different  creeks  flowing  into  the  Rio  Grande. 
This  entire  country  consisted  of  mountain  ranges, 
and  the  mountain  streams  with  their  parks  and 
valleys  gave  it  drainage.  In  the  economy  of  Nature 
the  mountains  were  made  to  contain  mineral  for 
the  use  of  man  as  he  became  more  enlightened; 
the  thing  was  to  find  it. 

A  long  trip  like  this  meant  much  walking.  What 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  153 

is  the  use  of  money  anyhow,  unless  to  buy  com- 
fort? For  $35.00  we  bought  a  pony  and  cheap  saddle 
so  we  could  take  time  about  riding.  The  only 
trouble  with  a  pony,  it  had  to  be  picketed  out,  as 
it  might  take  a  notion  to  leave  for  parts  unknown. 
We  prospected  one  day  up  Pole  Creek,  and  one  day 
at  Antelope  Park,  and  two  days  at  Wagon  Wheel 
Gap.  Several  years  later  a  man  named  Creed  found 
valuable  mines  near  this  place.  We  gave  them  a 
close  call  but  it  was  not  our  prerogative  to  find 
them.  Luck,  as  such,  is  made  of  that  kind  of  ma- 
terial. 

After  a  long  ramble  on  the  evening  of  the  first 
day  at  this  place,  while  Daniel  got  supper  I  took 
my  line  and  hook  and  went  up  the  gorge  about  two 
hundred  yards  and  walked  out  on  a  jutting  boulder, 
with  the  hopeful  object  of  catching  the  speckled 
trout  that  inhabited  the  stream.  I  only  had  fifteen 
grasshoppers  in  a  tin  can  with  which  to  .bait  the 
hook.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  either  art  or  luck,  but 
simply  to  throw  the  line  as  far  up  stream  as  pos- 
sible and  watch  the  bait  as  it  floated  down.  When 
the  fish  struck  it,  I  gave  a  quick  jerk,  and  the 
speckled  beauty  would  come  wiggling  along  until 
he  stood  in  front. 

If  a  small  one  less  than  two  pounds  happened  on 
the  hook,  I  threw  it  back  and  let  it  grow  larger 
for  somebody  else.  In  an  hour  or  less  time  I  had  a 
nice  string  of  ten  that  would  weigh  from  two  to 
four  pounds  each.  I  was  not  fishing  for  fun,  but 
for  a  change  in  diet,  and  something  better  to  eat. 
We  knew  from  others  that  it  was  the  nature  of 
these  fish  to  migrate  up  or  down  the  stream  in 
order  to  find  water  of  a  certain  temperature  to 
suit  their  preference,  but  that  exact  location  was 
sometimes  hard  to  find. 

Fishing  never  was  much  pleasure  to  me,  it  re- 
quires to  much  patience  and  not  enough  work, 
though  lots  of  people  think  it  is  great  sport.  Next 
day  we  went  further  up  the  gorge,  and  might  have 
gone  all  the  way.  There  was  a  fascinating  charm 


154  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

about  the  dashing  roaring  waters,  enhanced  by  the 
surroundings,  hardly  excelled  if  ever  equalled.  On 
the  oposite  side  a  massive  volume  of  rock  was  so 
high  that  it  seemed  to  be  looking  over  in  astonish- 
ment at  the  performance  below.  It  was  not  less 
than  2000  feet  high.  Of  course  we  did  not  measure 
the  height,  it  might  have  been  3000  feet. 

Nor  was  this  the  only  wonderful  thing  at  that 
place.  A  short  distance  from  the  road,  maybe  a 
hundred  yards,  a  big  boiling  spring  of  hot  water 
came  out  of  the  earth  with  enough  force  to  bulge 
up  in  the  center.  We  had  crossed  the  stream  made 
by  it,  in  passing  that  way  before,  but  did  not  know 
it  was  hot  water.  Nor  did  we  know  this  time  until 
next  morning  from  our  camp  we  could  see  a  big 
smoke,  and  went  down  to  find  out  the  cause.  The 
spring  looked  like  the  inside  part  of  a  large  black 
caldron  eight  feet  in  diameter  with  a  hole  in  the 
bottom.. 

The  water  was  too  hot  to  hold  one's  hand  in  it 
longer  than  two  seconds.  My  report  in  regard  to 
the  source  of  this  supply  of  water  will  necessarily 
be  incomplete,  as  we  didn't  have  time  to  dig  down 
to  the  big  fire  that  did  the  heating  act.  About  two 
hundred  feet  off  I  noticed  a  nice  little  stream  of 
clear  cool  water  trickling  through  the  crevice  in 
a  rock.  It  was  just  about  the  right  height  from 
the  ground,  so  I  concluded  to  take  a  drink,  but  it 
only  got  part  of  the  way  to  the  swallow  point.  My 
first  impression  was  of  rotten  eggs.  Some  people 
might  like  this  kind  of  water  if  bottled  up,  and 
they  had  to  pay  twenty-five  cents  per  bottle,  but 
for  my  own  part  I  would  prefer  a  different  brand. 

Eventually  we  reached  Del  Norte  and  struck 
camp  about  half  a  mile  out  from  the  city.  Fortuna- 
tely a  friendly  looking  Mexican  was  standing  near 
his  gate,  and  we  asked  him  the  privilege  of  turn- 
ing our  burros  in  his  pasture.  "As  you  are  pros- 
pectors it  won't  cost  you  anything,"  he  replied, 
which  was  very  kind  of  him.  As  it  happened  he 
knew  the  animals,  and  was  glad  they  were  in  good 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  155 

hands.  That  night  we  visited  the  city  to  make  a 
few  purchases  so  as  to  be  ready  for  an  early  start 
next  morning.  We  passed  a  new  building  with  many 
lights,  and  the  sound  of  music  and  revelry  on  the 
inside  and  we  stepped  in  to  see  what  it  meant.  To 
our  surprise  we  found  a  regular  dance  hall  in  full 
blast,  and  a  motley  crowd  it  was,  consisting  of  men 
and  women  galore.  Judging  from  the  costume  and 
deportment  I  think  the  Mexican  element  predom- 
inated. It  was  different,  however,  from  the  one 
we  had  formerly  visited.  There  were  various  rooms 
set  apart,  one  for  faro,  one  for  poker,  one  for  the 
wheel  of  fortune,  and  one  for  roulette.  Neither  of 
us  spoke  a  word  to  a  single  man  or  woman,  in  fact 
we  were  not  neded  as  a  factor  in  the  success  of 
the  institution. 

There  was  a  bridge  across  the  river  at  this  point, 
but  at  this  time  of  the  year  when  the  waters  were 
high  there  was  an  overflow  about  a  hundred  yards 
further  along,  which  was  both  too  deep  and  swift 
to  ford.  A  large  rope  about  a  hundred  feet  long  was 
stretched  across,  and  a  man  in  a  skiff  waited  on 
the  traveling  public  by  pulling  on  the  rope.  But 
how  to  get  our  animals  across  was  a  difficult  ques- 
tion to  me.  The  ferryman  assured  us  there  would 
be  no  trouble  by  following  his  instructions  which 
was  easy  to  do. 

Taking  our  packs  off  he  tied  one  end  of  a  rope 
to  the  pack  saddle,  and  one  of  us  got  in  the  skiff 
with  him,  holding  the  other  end,  and  when  half- 
way across  the  other  one  pushed  the  animal  into 
the  current.  The  ferryman  pulled  on  his  rope  while 
the  animal  slued  around  and  came  out  on  the  other 
side.  Of  course  this  process  was  followed  with  the 
other  two  animals.  While  crossing  it  dawned  upon 
my  mind  that  the  ferryman  was  our  old  friend 
Henry  Adams.  We  had  entirely  lost  sight  of  him 
for  the  past  two  years. 

This  man  Adams  discovered  a  mine  and  named  it 
Matilda  Fletcher,  after  a  young  lady  that  gave  a 
lecture  of  some  kind  in  Georgetown.  Either  Bill 


156  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

Moore  or  Tom  Johns  paid  him  $10,000  and  kept 
the  balance  of  a  $40,000  deal.  He  invested  a  few 
hundred  dollars  in  a  little  cigar  and  tobacco  stand 
on  one  of  the  side  streets.  I  called  several  times 
to  see  him  but  he  was  always  absent.  There  was  a 
back  door,  locked  all  the  time,  supposed  to  be  his 
private  room,  but  as  I  learned  later  was  used  as 
a  gambling  den.  In  five  months  Henry  lost  in  a 
manner,  all  his  money  and  then  dropped  out  of 
sight.  He  was  now  making  some  good  money, 
and  when  he  had  enough  for  a  "grub  stake"  would 
try  it  over. 

A  journey  of  thirty-five  miles  lay  before  us,  and 
as  our  baggage  was  reduced  to  a  minimum  in  the 
way  of  supplies  we  put  all  on  one  burro  and  rode 
the  other.  No  animal,  as  far  as  I  know,  moves 
with  more  ease  to  the  rider  than  the  burro.  He  has 
a  kind  of  pacing  movement  that  reminds  one  of 
being  in  a  swing.  The  road  all  the  way  was  smooth 
and  level,  not  a  single  hill  to  climb,  and  only  one 
branch  on  the  route  where  we  rested  about  an  hour. 
We  were  passing  through  the  lower  part  of  the 
San  Luis  valley.  South  of  us  lay  the  Sangre  De 
Cristo  range,  showing  we  were  still  in  the  confines 
of  the  mountain  regions. 

We  reached  Saguache  about  sundown  and  stop- 
ped in  front  of  a  store.  The  merchant  came  out 
and  invited  us  to  put  our  baggage  in  his  store,  and 
turn  our  stock  in  his  pasture.  There  had  developed 
a  spirit  of  rivalry  between  this  town  and  Del  Norte 
as  an  "outfitting"  place  for  parties  going  into  the 
new  mining  country,  and  this  gave  the  prospector 
favorable  consideration.  As  the  hotel  only  charged 
us  $1.00  per  day  for  board  and  lodging  we  con- 
cluded not  to  be  in  any  extra  hurry  getting  away, 
as  it  was  a  nice  place  to  stay. 

Quite  a  big  trial  was  going  on  at  the  courthouse 
—  not  much  house  -  -  in  which  a  Mexican  was 
charged  with  some  misdemeanor.  As  the  witnesses 
were  all  Mexican  and  could  not  talk  English  it 
was  necessary  to  have  an  interpreter.  My  interest 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  157 

in  the  trial  was  to  hear  the  lawyer  ask  questions 
in  English,  and  then  watch  the  interpreter  "jab- 
ber" awhile  with  the  witness,  and  then  answer  back 
in  English.  The  novelty  of  the  thing  made  it  in- 
teresting. Several  large  counties  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  teritory  were  occupied  by  Greasers,  and 
the  legislature  had  to  provide  interpreters  for  the 
benefit  of  the  members  elected  from  these  counties. 
The  Spanish  language,  as  such,  when  spoken  by  a 
glib  tongue  sounds  very  nice,  much  more  so  than 
the  German,  French  or  English. 

We  made  our  purchases  that  evening  and  next 
day  went  up  the  Saguache  valley  about  twenty-five 
miles.  Opposite  our  camp,  across  the  creek,  and 
about  two  miles  distant,  we  could  see  what  ap- 
peared to  be  holes  in  the  high  cliffs.  With  the  glass 
we  could  see  clearly  enough  they  were  holes,  but 
could  not  tell  whether  made  by  Nature  or  by  hand. 
I  have  regretted  many  times  not  spending  at  least 
one  day  of  investigation.  Possibly  they  had  been 
used  by  the  early  Indians  as  a  habitation  and  place 
of  refuge  from  other  tribes. 

There  was  a  passably  good  wagon  road  all  the 
way  across  the  Continental  Divide  into  the  Gunni- 
son  mines,  and  we  expected  a  pleasant  speedy  trip. 
This  is  the  route  Fremont  ought  to  have  taken  in 
order  to  find  the  low  pass  across  the  great  divide 
that  he  was  looking  for  when  he  went  up  the  Rio 
Grande.  Next  day  we  met  four  men  riding  in  a 
wagon  and  direct  from  the  Gunnison.  This  was  de- 
cidedly a  fortunate  meeting  for  us  as  they  could 
give  us  definite  information,  which  we  had  failed 
to  obtain  by  asking  others. 

They  were  armed  both  with  guns  and  side  arms, 
and  told  us  we  would  not  be  able  to  reach  the 
mining  region  without  a  fight  with  the  Indians. 
They  had  no  objections  to  parties  coming  out,  but 
were  on  the  war  path  against  those  going  in.  These 
Indians  claimed  the  treaty  included  the  upper  part 
of  the  Gunnison,  but  not  where  the  mines  were  lo- 
cated. This  same  trouble  existed  on  the  Animus 


158  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

when  Chief  Ouray  went  down  there  to  setle  it  as 
previously  mentioned.  These  men  advised  us  to 
wait  awhile  until  the  trouble  was  settled. 

My  past  experience  with  the  Indian,  as  a  human 
being,  gave  me  a  very  poor  opinion  of  him,  and  that 
he  placed  a  low  value  on  the  life  of  the  white  man. 
When  we  came  to  the  fork  of  the  road,  we  decided 
in  about  three  seconds  to  take  the  left  hand  which 
led  back  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Animus.  A  few 
of  the  progressive  citizens  of  Saguache  had  ten  men 
at  that  time  marking  and  building  a  road  to  the 
Animus,  and  when  we  finished  was  much  better  and 
at  least  fifty  miles  nearer,  than  the  route  via  Del 
Norte. 

We  had  left  the  Saguache  valley  several  miles 
back  and  were  gradually  ascending  some  higher 
altitude,  in  fact  we  pased  the  great  divide  on  such 
an  easy  grade  that  we  scarcely  realized  the  fact. 
As  I  recall  some  of  the  events  of  this  trip,  I  will 
mention  crossing  one  stretch  of  ten  miles  with  no 
trees  or  rocks,  though  covered  with  a  kind  of  short 
grass.  It  was  not  a  park  in  the  usual  meaning  of 
that  word,  because  there  was  no  high  frowning 
cliff  to  be  seen.  The  road  builders  had  put  up  a 
line  of  stakes  to  mark  out  the  way  to  go.  On  reach- 
ing the  far  side  a  nice  small  stream  crossed  our 
route  and  as  there  was  plenty  of  wood,  water,  and 
grass,  we  struck  camp. 

We  noticed  along  up  and  down  this  branch 
rather  a  peculiar  growth  different  from  anything  I 
had  ever  seen  before.  It  was  more  like  a  big  stalk 
of  some  kind,  than  bush  or  sapling.  They  grow 
from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high  without  a  single 
limb  on  them,  though  a  bunch  of  leaves  grew 
on  top.  They  are  four  inches  in  diameter  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  three  inches  at  the  top.  I  cut  three  of 
them  down  and  found  they  had  a  pith  on  the  in- 
side, and  was  told  by  others  that  the  pole  when 
peeled  and  dried,  was  light  and  nearly  as  hard  as 
bone. 

It  seems  Nature  is  always  bountiful  as  well  as 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  159 

generous  in  supplying  the  demands  of  her  crea- 
tures, either  creeping,  flying  or  walking.  She  pro- 
vided this  singular  growth  here,  and  here  only, 
for  the  special  benefit  of  the  Indians,  as  teepee 
poles.  They  grew  just  the  right  size  and  length  for 
that  purpose,  and  used  by  a  people  unable  to  make 
or  obtain  them  any  other  way. 

In  pursuing  our  journey,  without  expecting  such 
a  thing,  we  came  to  one  of  the  agencies  established 
by  the  government,  where  supplies  of  the  various 
kinds  were  issued  according  to  the  terms  of  the 
treaty.  Here  we  could  see  a  number  of  these  good- 
for-nothing  scamps  sitting  and  loafing  around,  and 
a  short  distance  up  the  valley  could  see  their  tee- 
pees reminding  one  of  a  city,  after  a  fashion.  This 
was  a  fortunate  arrangement  between  Uncle  Sam 
and  the  Big  Chief,  especially  the  latter.  Under  the 
new  deal  his  people  belonged  strictly  to  the  aristo- 
cratic class,  with  plenty  to  eat  and  nothing  to  do 
but  to  organize  excursion  parties  and  hunting 
bouts.  Like  a  rich  man  with  a  big  income  they 
could  "laugh  to  scorn  the  ills  of  life,  and  be  gay 
and  happy  still."  It  was  easy  enough  to  comply  with 
one  part  of  the  treaty,  that  of  drawing  rations  and 
supplies,  but  they  were  disposed  to  break  over  in 
other  respects.  Due  to  this  disposition  on  their  part 
we  failed  to  visit  the  Gunnison  mines. 

Merely  by  accident  we  camped  one  day  at  noon 
where  an  Indian  trail  crossed  our  road.  Entirely 
unexpectedly  a  moving  band  of  Indian  passed  with- 
in a  hundred  feet  or  so  of  our  camp.  Perhaps  there 
were  two  hundred  or  more  of  them,  old  and  young, 
male  and  female.  This  was  one  of  the  sights  I  was 
anxious  to  see.  It  took  them  fully  half  an  hour  to 
pass.  The  bucks  were  riding  in  front  at  an  easy 
gait  in  single  file,  in  fact  they  all  passed  that  way, 
seemingly  without  the  least  bit  of  confusion.  The 
squaws  were  all  walking  and  looking  after  the 
pack  animals.  The  teepee  poles  were  fastened  on 
in  such  a  way  that  one  end  dragged  on  the  ground 
behind  the  pack  animal.  A  device  of  some  character 


160  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

was  fastened  to  these  poles  about  five  feet  from  the 
end  in  which  the  small  papoose  did  the  riding  act, 
perhaps  it  was  tied  there.  None  of  them  paid  the 
slightest  attention  to  us,  which  met  my  hearty  ap- 
proval, I  am  sure.  It  is  part  of  the  Indian's  nature 
to  be  indifferent  toward  the  white  man  or  anything 
he  does,  except  when  he  encroaches  upon  his  hunt- 
ing ground.  The  chances  are  he  would  go  to  sleep 
while  watching  a  display  of  fire  works.  We  had  no 
idea  where  they  were  going  or  whence  they  came. 

I  am  free  to  admit  that  after  seeing  so  many 
of  them,  and  looking  at  their  savage  faces,  which 
bore  the  marks  of  a  cruel  nature,  I  formed  even  a 
more  unfavorable  opinion  of  them  than  formerly. 
I  felt  more  inclined  than  ever  to  accept  the  com- 
mon western  opinion,  that  the  "only  good  Indian 
is  a  dead  one."  Several  passed  us  that  evening 
going  the  same  way  we  were.  This  of  itself  was  a 
little  suspicious,  considering  the  low  opinion  we 
had  of  them.  Two  or  three  were  more  liable  to  do 
a  real  mean  thing  than  a  large  number. 

As  the  evening  shades  drew  near  we  were  glad 
to  strike  some  lower  levels.  We  crossed  Saboia 
River  (creek)  on  a  bridge  made  by  the  road  build- 
ers. The  river  took  its  name,  I  am  told,  from  wild 
onions  that  grew  there.  On  acount  of  the  land 
being  nearly  level  the  creek  was  too  deep  to  ford. 
On  each  side  the  grass  was  growing  over  waist 
high.  That  night  we  went  down  near  the  creek 
bank  and  spread  our  blankets  on  the  tall  grass.  All 
through  the  night  we  could  hear  thudding  sounds 
like  some  one  pitching  rocks  in  the  water.  On  exa- 
mination next  morning  we  found  the  banks  were 
made  slick  by  beavers  sliding  down  into  the  water. 
Only  a  short  distance  below  was  a  regular  beaver 
dam. 

It  was  only  three  miles  down  to  the  Gunnison 
River  forming  a  rich  valley  of  several  thousand 
acres,  in  my  opinion  suitable  for  wheat  or  other 
cereal  growth.  We  followed  the  newly  made  road, 
which  was  through  the  woods  above  the  river, 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  161 

though  near  enough  at  times  to  hear  the  rushing 
waters.  All  along  for  ten  miles  the  pine  trees,  per- 
haps a  hundred  or  more,  had  been  denuded  of  their 
bark  as  high  as  one  could  reach.  On  inquiring  of 
others  I  learned  that  the  squaws  took  it  off  to  use 
as  bread  before  the  treaty.  I  can't  vouch  for  the 
explanation,  but  can  vouch  for  the  trees  being 
barkless. 

By  making  rather  a  long  march  that  day  we 
reached  the  forks  of  the  Gunnison.  For  some  dis- 
tance below,  by  the  widening  of  the  valley  form- 
ing a  park  it  was  evident  that  we  were  approach- 
ing the  forks.  Late  in  the  evening  we  passed  by 
what  semed  to  be  an  old  camp  with  pieces  of  striped 
blankets  and  a  few  cooking  vessels  left  behind. 
This  of  itself  was  very  unusual,  yet  such  things 
could  happen.  Here  we  overtook  and  camped  near 
the  road  builders  that  night.  It  was  a  little  like  get- 
ting back  into  civilization  once  more  to  find  white 
men  that  would  speak  back  and  give  us  some  at- 
tention. 

That  night,  when  we  first  visited  their  camp,  I 
noticed  the  carcass  of  a  beaver  hanging  up  taking 
the  cool  night  breeze.  But  it  looked  so  much  like 
a  little  baby  that  next  morning  when  they  offered 
us  some  of  it  as  a  breakfast  food,  I  declined  with 
thanks,  in  fact  I  was  always  a  little  tender  about 
eating  animal  flesh.  That  night  while  sitting 
around  the  camp  fire  I  asked  Mr.  Hodgkiss,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  road  hands,  in  regard  to  the 
old  camp  we  had  passed  about  a  mile  below.  He  was 
a  little  surprised  that  I  had  not  heard  the  events 
connected  with  this  camp  while  in  Saguache,  that 
it  was  the  chief  topic  of  conversation  four  months 
ago. 

As  he  related  the  events  pertaining  to  this  old 
camp  they  semed  like  some  big  ghost  story,  or 
more  like  a  part  of  the  history  of  Captain  Kidd 
and  John  A.  Murrell  combined.  I  will  try  to  be  as 
brief  as  possible  in  relating  the  story  he  told  which 
was  corroborated  later  by  others.  The  story  is 


162  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

about  as  follows :  A  company  of  four  men,  no  doubt 
prospectors,  were  taking  their  chances  in  finding  a 
new  mining  region.  They  were  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  half-breed,  part  Indian  and  part  Mexican, 
with  the  duplicity  and  cunning  of  both  races. 

After  wandering  around  through  the  mountain 
defiles,  being  either  lost  or  so  arranged  by  inten- 
tion, found  a  resting  place  and  escape  from  star- 
vation in  the  Uncompahgre  valley,  the  home 
grounds  of  Ouray  the  big  chief,  where  he  kept  his 
ponies  through  the  long  winter,  also  a  herd  of 
sheep  and  goats.  This  plateau  was  maybe  fifty 
miles  long  by  ten  miles  wide,  and  was  sheltered  by 
high  ranges  of  mountains,  making  it  a  fine  winter 
resort.  About  the  first  or  middle  of  March  they  con- 
cluded to  pass  over  onto  the  head  waters  of  the 
Gunnison,  which  they  did,  and  camped  at  the  place 
about  a  mile  below.  Under  the  plea  of  saving  his 
own  life  from  starvation  this  half-bred  knocked 
his  companions  in  the  head  with  a  hatchet,  one  at 
a  time  and  used  their  flesh  as  a  cannibal.  After  this 
horrible  deed  he  passed  over  the  Cochatopa  Range, 
which  we  had  passed  a  few  days  previous,  and  on 
down  to  Saguache.  He  had  plenty  of  money  and 
spent  it  freely.  In  telling  of  his  exploits  through  the 
mountains  he  failed  to  tell  the  same  tale  every  time 
which  led  men  to  suspect  he  had  killed  his  com- 
rades for  their  money.  He  was  arrested,  put  in  jail, 
but  broke  out  in  some  way  and  no  trace  of  him 
had  been  found  up  to  that  time.  The  road  builders 
found  the  camp  as  he  described  it,  but  the  mur- 
dered men  no  doubt  were  thrown  in  the  river  and 
the  high  water  from  melting  snow  had  washed  them 
down  in  to  the  gorge  below. 

This  gruesome  tale  might  have  been  left  out  of 
these  memoirs  as  I  was  not  directly  connected  with 
the  tragical  events.  But  it  serves  to  illustrate  what 
might  befall  any  prospector  that  risks  his  life  too 
far  in  any  field  of  uncertainty.  We  know  nothing 
of  these  men  that  lost  their  lives  only  that  they 
had  some  money.  Seeking  gold  (which  is  a  synonym 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  163 

of  wealth)  and  the  love  of  adventure,  induced  these 
men  to  undertake  this  perilous  journey.  This  same 
incentive  caused  Baker  and  those  with  him  to  go 
beyond  the  bounds  of  safety,  and  hundreds  of  others 
were  still  doing  the  same  thing  one  way  or  an- 
other. 

Next  morning  Mr.  Hodgekiss  moved  his  camp 
six  miles  further  up  the  left  fork  of  the  river.  It 
was  twenty  miles  yet  to  the  head  of  the  Animus. 
As  this  was  an  extra  nice  place  to  recuperate  we 
remained  there  a  whole  week  prospecting  up  both 
forks  of  the  river,  also  to  give  the  road  builders 
more  time  to  finish  their  work.  We  went  up  the 
right  hand  branch  first  and  found  several  fairly 
good  looking  mines.  Putting  one  or  two  shots  in 
each  one  the  "blue  blaze"  told  us  it  was  not  the 
kind  of  mineral  we  were  expecting  to  find.  My  ex- 
perience had  taught  me  there  was  no  use  wasting 
time  on  low  grade  mineral. 

On  the  last  day  up  this  branch  we  went  higher 
up  on  the  mountain,  even  above  timber  line, 
hoping  to  find  a  vein  or  croppings  of  some  kind  in- 
dicating a  higher  grade  of  mineral.  Out  on  top  of 
one  of  the  higher  points  or  peaks,  with  the  aid  of 
the  glass  we  could  see  in  the  distance  the  winding 
course  of  the  Uncompahgre  valley,  and  where  its 
waters  emptied  into  a  larger  river.  Less  than  half 
a  mile  up  the  left  fork  there  was  a  beautiful  lake 
some  three  miles  long  and  one  mile  wide.  A  lake  in 
the  mountains  is  something  of  a  novelty,  though 
in  my  travels  I  have  seen  several. 

About  a  hundred  feet  below  the  lower  end  of 
this  lake  there  is  a  chasm  through  the  solid  rock 
fifteen  feet  wide  and  thirty  feet  deep,  and  the  lake 
maintained  its  same  level  by  flowing  through  this 
fissure.  Keeping  the  road  on  the  south  side  of  the 
lake  we  stepped  across  a  nice  little  stream  of  clear 
water.  It  was  about  my  time  to  "take  a  drink"  but 
the  first  gulp  made  me  wish  there  was  some  way 
to  get  it  back.  Vinegar  sweetened  with  green  per- 
simons  might  give  an  idea  how  it  tasted.  The  as- 


164  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

tringent  effect  was  due  to  a  strong  solution  of 
alum.  This  was  not  the  first  time  I  had  been  de- 
ceived in  taking  a  sip  of  what  I  thought  was 
"Adam's  ale"  in  its  purest  form.  We  followed  this 
little  streamlet  up  the  mountain  nearly  a  mile  to 
its  source.  It  was  not  large  enough  to  be  called  a 
branch.  A  very  short  distance  above  the  source  of 
the  branch,  we  came  to  a  freaky  section  that  baf- 
fles my  power  of  description.  It  did  not  consist  of 
ordinary  earth  or  rock,  one  or  both  such  as  I  had 
been  walking  over  up  to  this  time.  From  appear- 
ance it  might  be  a  mixture  of  wheat  bran  and  saw- 
dust mixed  together  under  a  pressure,  and  at  places 
not  a  very  high  pressure. 

Through  a  spirit  of  curiosity  we  walked  out  over 
this  strange  formation  maybe  half  a  mile  and  came 
to  a  place,  where  from  the  sound  of  our  footsteps 
the  earth  below  might  be  holow,  and  perhaps  the 
crust  not  very  thick.  A  conclusion  was  rapidly 
reached  that  this  was  a  good  place  to  be  far  away 
from.  By  no  means  was  it  a  good  location  to  esta- 
blish a  health  resort.  If  some  wise-acre  suggested 
it  was  the  remnant  of  an  extinct  volcano  which  had 
been  in  active  operation  two  million  years  ago,  I 
might  accept  the  plausibility,  but  I  would  want  to 
know  how  he  knew  it  was  true.  It  would  hardly  be 
reasonable  to  think  that  Nature  was  holding  this 
vast  deposit  of  raw  material  in  a  large  hopper,  so  to 
speak,  for  the  purpose  of  draining  out  a  little 
measley  branch  of  alum  water,  yet  that  seemed  to 
be  the  only  result.  On  reaching  terra  firma  we  con- 
cluded to  leave  explorations  of  this  character  for 
some  one  else.  Our  object  was  to  see  things,  and  if 
possible,  to  find  a  mine  with  enough  gold  or  silver 
to  pay  for  working.  With  these  two  objects  in  view 
we  bent  our  way  out  into  higher  altitudes,  where 
by  the  aid  of  the  glass  we  could  see  the  high  cliffs 
around  Wagon  Wheel  Gap  not  more  than  forty 
miles  distant,  though  a  rough  unexplored  country 
intervening. 

Next  day  we  followed  the  road  to  a  point  above 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  16$ 

the  lake  and  prospected  the  mountains  on  each  side 
of  the  stream  and  made  one  discovery  on  each 
side,  and  had  some  hope  that  they  might  prove 
valuable,  but  such  was  not  the  case.  That  evening, 
perhaps  just  at  the  right  time,  we  witnessed  a 
sight  few  people  on  earth  have  ever  seen.  Out 
across  the  smooth  waters  of  the  lake  we  saw  what 
at  first  we  thought  were  ducks,  but  the  glass 
seemed  to  bring  them  up  to  us  and  we  could  easily 
see  they  were  beavers.  On  a  rough  estimate  I  think 
there  was  between  one  and  two  hundred.  We  could 
see  them  in  a  manner  clear  across  the  lake  and 
nearly  in  every  direction.  Seemingly  they  were 
divided  in  bunches,  sometimes  swimming  in  single 
file,  and  then  in  double  columns  as  though  out 
on  dress  parade.  Occasionally  we  could  see  a 
general  mix-up  and  a  splashing  of  water;  then 
they  would  disappear  and  rise  again  not  far 
away.  Apparently  they  were  catching  their  eve- 
ning meal  consisting  of  bugs  and  grasshoppers. 
This  lake  was  too  remote,  otherwise,  it  might  have 
been  a  trapper's  paradise. 

Speaking  of  grasshoppers  reminds  me  that  I  have 
seen  them  in  various  parts  of  the  mountains,  fly- 
ing in  the  air  so  thick,  that  the  sun  seemed  to  be 
shining  through  a  hazy  atmosphere.  It  is  wonder- 
ful the  distance  they  can  be  seen  overhead  with 
their  myriad  of  glistening  wings.  When  exhausted 
they  fall  to  the  earth,  some  of  them  in  swift 
flowing  streams  and  are  washed  down  into 
eddie  waters,  where  I  am  told  the  squaws 
gather  them  in  large  quantities  and  in  some  way 
prepare  them  for  winter  food.-  And  why  not?  Like 
cattle  and  other  ruminating  animals  they  are  only 
one  remove  from  the  grass  or  other  vegetable  mat- 
ter. 

We  prospected,  high  and  low,  on  both  sides  of 
the  mountain  below  the  forks  of  the  Gunnison.  As 
we  were  the  first  prospectors  in  this  section  of  the 
country  we  were  very  anxious  to  make  at  least  one 
valuable  discovery,  say  three  or  four  hundred  dol- 


166  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

lars  to  the  ton.  We  could  afford  to  stay  with  a 
mine  of  this  character  and  cease  further  rambling 
which  was  wearing  to  both  the  physical  and  ner- 
vous system.  It  would  have  given  us  the  privilege 
of  naming  the  new  mining  district,  also  the  right 
to  ask  the  Governor  of  the  territory  to  authorize 
us  to  make  records  of  mining  claims,  and  records 
of  other  kinds.  This  might  have  been  done  by 
virtue  of  the  eight  or  ten  discoveries  already  made, 
but  the  "blue  blaze"  told  us  the  mines  were  not 
worth  staying  with  them.  If  men  received  credit 
according  to  their  effort  we  might  have  been  able 
to  show  a  good  balance  sheet.  It  is  a  generally 
known  fact  that  kissing  comes  by  favor  and  not 
by  merit.  There  was  nothing  left  for  us  only  to 
fold  our  tent  and  seek  pastures  new,  leaving  behind 
us  reminiscences  of  an  eventful  week. 

At  the  foot  of  the  divide  between  the  head  waters 
of  the  two  rivers  the  Animus  and  the  Gunnison 
we  found  the  encampment  of  the  road  builders.  In 
a  mining  country  the  prospector  is  about  as  much 
at  home  one  place  as  another  if  he  has  wood,  water 
and  grass,  so  we  concluded  to  give  them  a  few 
days  longer  to  complete  the  work,  and  during  that 
time  we  scoured  that  part  of  the  country  in  search 
of  the  needle  in  the  haystack.  One  day  we  passed 
over  the  Continental  onto  the  head  of  Pole  creek. 
We  had  an  idea  that  maybe  valuable  mines  might 
be  found  in  higher  altitudes  as  we  had  failed  to 
find  them  of  that  character  in  the  lower  regions. 

While  in  camp  near  the  builders  I  told  Mr. 
Hodgekiss  about  our  discoveries  down  at  the  forks 
where  we  first  met  them,  and  showed  him  our  spe- 
cimens of  mineral,  but  did  not  tell  him  why  we 
left.  At  the  point  where  the  road  crosses  the  divide 
within  a  radius  of  five  or  six  miles  you  will  reach 
the  head  waters  of  four  rivers  each  one  flowing  in 
a  different  direction.  The  Rio  to  the  South,  the  Ani- 
mus to  the  West,  the  Uncompahgre  to  the  North, 
the  Gunnison  to  the  East.  We  had  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  travelers  to  pass  over  the  new 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  167 

road,  which  brought  us  on  the  head  waters  of  the 
Animus.  It  was  about  fifteen  miles  down  to  Bullion 
City,  where  we  left,  yet  we  had  traveled  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  reach  our  destination. 
Instead  of  a  one  day  trip,  we  had  been  over  a 
month,  with  many  adventures  and  uncertainties. 

In  our  new  camp  on  the  Animus  we  were  sur- 
rounded in  a  measure  by  rough  and  rugged  cliffs, 
and  if  they  contained  valuable  mineral  we  were 
ready  to  greet  them  with  brawny  arms.  For  several 
days  we  climbed  over  and  around  them  with  no 
success,  so  we  decided  to  move  across  the  divide 
onto  the  head  of  the  Uncompahgre.  There  were 
about  ten  miles  here  unclaimed  by  the  Indians,  and 
included  in  the  treaty.  Very  few  if  any  prospectors 
had  been  in  this  particular  locality.  We  picked  out 
a  possible  way  of  going  before  starting. 

Individually  I  was  imbued  with  the  idea  that 
there  might  and  ought  to  be  valuable  mines  in  this 
vast  mineral-bearing  region.  We  were  not  spe- 
cially hanging  around  where  others  had  made  dis- 
coveries, but  were  willing  to  go  even  where  others 
had  never  been.  At  first  we  were  favorably  im- 
pressed with  the  location  though  it  was  rugged 
and  precipitous.  After  making  two  or  three  prom- 
ising discoveries  we  found  our  drills  were  too 
dull  for  use,  which  forced  us  to  build  another  fur- 
nace, as  previously  described.  We  added  half  a  dozen 
or  more  samples  to  our  list,  with  labels  and  loca- 
tions. A  few  of  them  contained  the  so-called  "gray 
copper"  which  according  to  rules  in  metallurgy 
ought  to  be  rich  in  silver.  I  felt  a  hesitancy  to  apply 
the  test  that  would  decide  their  value.  Our  whole 
year's  work,  in  a  measure,  depended  upon  the  re- 
sults. In  all  probability  this  was  our  last  chance  to 
establish  a  new  mining  district,  for  the  summer 
season  was  rapidly  passing,  and  something  like 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  with  high  mountain 
ranges  intervened  between  our  home  and  present 
location.  Traveling  in  the  mountains  at  best  is  a 
slow  progress,  but  with  deep  snow  it  is  simply  im- 
possible, especially  with  pack  animals. 


168  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

One  entire  evening  was  spent,  in  order  to  be 
extra  careful,  in  making  these  assays.  One  by  one 
I  watched  the  'blue  blaze"  convert  them  into  thin 
air.  It  is  said  that  disappointment  sinks  the  heart 
of  man,  but  it  was  no  new  thing  for  me,  in  fact  I 
had  grown  use  to  it  through  a  series  of  defeated  ex- 
pectations during  the  last  eight  years.  However, 
we  were  not  yet  ready  to  throw  up  the  "sponge". 
It  wouldn't  do  to  get  lazy  or  indifferent,  for  that 
would  be  a  reflection  on  our  high  calling  as  pros- 
pectors, in  which  we  took  some  pride.  So  we  de- 
cided to  widen  our  circle  and  maybe  we  could  see 
something  if  we  couldn't  find  anything. 

It  was  our  intention  to  go  down  stream  some 
five  miles,  keeping  well  up  on  the  mountain  above 
it,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  in  a  view  of  the  much 
noted  valey  below.  The  beautiful  landscape,  with 
all  its  suroundings,  was  of  itself  enough  to  repay 
us  for  the  long  walk,  but  this  was  not  all.  During 
the  day's  rambling  a  sight  presented  itself  not  down 
on  the  program.  Without  the  least  expectation  on 
our  part  we  came  to  a  charming  little  cascade, 
maybe  thirty  feet  high  fed  by  a  snow  bank,  higher 
up  the  mountain,  which  had  been  in  the  business, 
no  doubt,  these  many  years. 

In  bold  relief  there  stood  out  before  us  in  all  its 
flashing  beauty,  a  regular  pyramid  of  pyrites,  per- 
haps ten  feet  in  height  and  six  feet  on  its  base, 
gradually  tapering  from  bottom  to  the  top.  While 
thousands  of  the  little  facets  glinted  in  the  rays 
of  a  noonday  sun,  sprays  of  limpid  water  fell  upon 
its  uncrowned  head.  Just  behind  the  falls  and 
on  each  side  we  could  see  the  same  kind  of  min- 
eral. Although  it  had  the  appearance  of  bur- 
nished gold  yet  it  contained  only  sulphate  of  iron, 
and  practically  without  value.  At  the  risk  of  get- 
ting wet,  with  my  hammer  I  chipped  off  a  nice 
little  sample.  This  brilliant  statue  might  be  useful 
and  appropriate  in  some  Fairy  Land  exhibition, 
otherwise  it  is  only  a  thing  of  beauty. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  169 

As  a  sequel  or  rather  a  winding-up  of  our  career 
for  the  season  we  traced  out  a  mammoth  mineral 
vein  forty  feet  in  width.  The  trend  of  the  vein  is 
along  on  top  of  the  divide  between  the  two  rivers. 
The  ground  is  in  a  manner  smooth  and  easy  to 
walk  over  as  there  are  no  trees,  shrubs,  or  cliffs. 
We  spent  nearly  the  entire  day  chipping  off  speci- 
mens at  different  places  and  examining  them  with 
our  magnifying  glass.  We  followed  this  king  of 
mineral  veins  more  than  two  miles,  over  to  a  lower 
level  where  there  was  more  grass  and  in  fact  a 
better  place  to  camp.  If  anyone  doubts  the  accu- 
racy of  this  statement  I  will  take  great  pleasure  in 
pointing  out  its  location,  also  the  pyrites  statue, 
if  he  wishes  to  make  an  investment  in  either  or 
both. 

For  several  days  the  burros  had  been  staying 
around  in  camp  more  than  usual,  which  was  their 
way  of  telling  us  that  their  feed  was  getting  scarce, 
and  it  was  hard  to  find  a  good  place  to  picket  the 
pony,  so  we  decided  to  move  at  once.  A  short  dis- 
tance from  our  new  camp  we  could  see  what  ap- 
peared to  be  an  extra  high  peak,  which  seemed  to 
be  only  four  or  five  miles  distant.  Early  one  morn- 
ing with  pick  and  hammer  we  started  and  it  took  us 
all  of  five  hours  to  reach  the  top,  perhaps  ten  miles 
instead  of  five.  Our  camp  was  on  the  upper  edge  of 
timber  line  which  usually  marks  the  11,000  feet 
altitude.  In  my  opinion  we  ascended  not  less  than 
5,000  feet  higher  that  day,  which  would  be  nearly 
2,000  feet  higher  than  Pike's  Peak,  considered  the 
highest  point  in  the  United  States. 

My  comand  of  words  and  capacity  of  arranging 
them  so  as  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  im- 
posing grandeur  as  seen  from  this  lofty  height  will 
fall  short  of  doing  the  subject  any  kind  of  justice. 
We  were  not  only  above  timber  line  but  beyond 
the  sight  of  timber.  Spread  out  before  our  vision, 
in  every  direction,  even  by  the  aid  of  a  glass, 
nothing  could  be  seen  but  mountain  ranges  with 
piercing  peaks  here  and  there,  like  steeples  in  a 


170  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

large  city.  A  panoramic  view  covering  hundreds 
of  miles  far  and  near  with  deep  shaded  spots  and 
streaks  that  might  be  caused  by  rivers  and  parks. 

All  this  vast  section  now  before  us  was  the 
hidden  home  of  gold,  silver  and  other  metals,  which 
future  generations  for  a  thousand  years  to  come 
will  not  be  able  to  explore  and  determine  their 
value.  While  we  were  about  to  retire  from  the 
field  of  effort,  yet  we  had  only  scratched  at  a  few 
places,  so  to  speak.  We  built  a  small  rock  house 
about  four  feet  high,  leaving  a  window  near  the 
top,  in  which  we  placed  a  smooth  rock  with  the 
name  Shelton  engraved  upon  it,  also  the  date.  Some 
one  might  have  been  there  before  us,  but  I  have 
my  doubts.  The  only  expedient  and  sensible  thing 
that  presented  itself  was  to  turn  our  heads  in -a 
homeward  direction.  Before  starting  I  rode  down 
to  Bullion  City  to  enquire  for  letters  and  mail 
others.  We  sold  our  picks  and  shovels  for  more 
than  they  cost  us,  our  mining  munition  had  been 
used  up,  and  our  grub  supply  was  getting  low,  so 
the  pack  animals  would  have  a  much  lighter  load. 
We  made  the  trip  through  to  Saguache,  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  in  four  days,  on  an  average  of 
thirty  miles  per  day.  We  camped  the  first  night  at 
the  forks  of  the  Gunnison  where  we  found  several 
prospectors  that  had  come  through  in  wagons.  Mr. 
Hodgekiss  had  spread  the  report  that  mineral  had 
been  found  in  quantity  at  these  forks.  No  one  asked 
us  in  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  mineral,  nor  did 
we  tell  them  we  knew  its  low  grade  character.  One 
or  two  of  the  men  that  had  worked  on  the  road 
knew  us,  and  that  was  all  they  cared  to  find  out. 

Our  route  from  Saguache  lay  through  the  San 
Luis  valley  noted  for  its  beauty  and  fertility.  It  is 
a  hundred  miles  long  and  forty  wide,  with  a  lake  of 
some  size  in  the  lower  end.  While  in  camp  late  in 
the  evening,  incidentally  we  looked  down  the  valley 
and  saw  a  horseman  apparently  riding  very  rapidly. 
But  the  strange  thing  was  that  he  seemed  to  be 
up  in  the  air  about  twenty  degrees  above  the  level. 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  171 

We  quickly  brought  out  our  glass  and  to  our  sur- 
prise coud  see  the  waters  of  the  lake  far  boyond 
and  at  the  same  height.  We  were  camping  on  a 
small  stream  where  large  cotton  wood  trees  were 
growing.  I  suppose  the  atmosphere  and  other  con- 
ditions were  favorable  to  produce  a  mirage.  At  any 
rate  it  was  a  thing  worth  seeing,  nor  did  we  have 
to  climb  a  mountain  to  see  it,  either. 

After  passing  through  the  gap  betwen  the  Co- 
chatopa  Hills,  part  of  the  Continental  divide,  and 
the  Sangre  de  Cristo  range,  we  noticed  a  left  hand 
fork  to  the  road,  but  we  did  not  know  whether  it 
went  somewhere  or  nowhere  and  then  stopped, 
but  all  the  same  it  would  have  been  a  hundred  miles 
or  more  nearer  home  by  this  road.  Eventually  we 
passed  through  Manitou  and  camped  a  short  dis- 
tance beyond  in  the  celebrated  Garden  of  the  Gods, 
where  we  remained  two  days.  It  was  about  a  hun- 
dred miles  to  Denver,  with  a  nice  smooth  road  all 
the  way,  and  we  could  have  easily  made  the  trip 
in  four  days,  and  from  that  place  the  railroad  ex- 
tended within  ten  miles  of  Georgetown.  We  were 
now  on  the  edge  of  the  plains  and  it  seemed  almost 
like  summer  time.  It  would  look  like  "going  back" 
on  our  job  to  go  in  too  early,  in  fact  we  might 
have  remained  on  the  Animus,  or  at  the  forks  of 
the  Gunnison  two  weeks  longer,  if  there  had  been 
any  occasion  for  doing  so.  To  relieve  the  situation 
a  "wild  goose"  notion  entered  our  minds  that  would 
serve  to  round  out  our  excursion  trip. 

In  telling  the  events  of  our  trip  my  narrative 
would  be  incomplete  if  I  fail  to  call  special  atten- 
tion to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods.  It  is  a  level  area 
of  fifty  acres  more  or  less  with  rough  grotesque 
rocks  protruding  from  the  ground,  ranging  from 
ten  to  fifteen  feet  high.  Some  of  them  are  round- 
like  in  form,  giving  one  an  idea  of  a  sculptor's 
model  in  its  early  stage.  By  walking  around  the 
supposed  statue,  at  a  certain  distance,  and  catch- 
ing the  proper  angle,  also  with  a  liberal  supply  of 
imagination,  the  rough  outline  of  the  human  spe- 


\12  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

cies  may  be  detected,  consisting  of  the  eyes,  nose, 
mouth,  chin  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  The  In- 
dians called  the  place  Manitou,  which  meant  in 
their  language  a  home  of  their  gods.  The  entrance 
to  this  so-called  garden,  from  the  plains,  was  by  a 
road  between  two  large  rocks.  One  of  them  was 
not  less  than  three  hundred  feet  long,  a  hundred 
feet  wide  and  over  two  hundred  feet  high.  Looking 
around  we  found  a  place  where  by  using  caution 
and  muscular  exertion  we  could  ascend  at  least 
part  of  the  way.  Perhaps  others  had  been  that  way 
before.  When  we  reached  a  point  something  like  a 
hundred  feet  high,  there  was  a  rather  small  level 
space,  giving  us  a  fine  view  of  the  plains.  There 
was  a  narrow  walk-way  around  to  the  far  end  of 
the  huge  fock,  but  I  was  afraid  to  even  stand  up 
where  we  were,  yet  Daniel  walked  to  the  far  end, 
and  then  out  on  top  where  he  remained  so  long  I 
was  uneasy  about  him.  From  our  high  perch  we 
could  see  Colorado  Springs,  and  could  count  the 
houses  if  we  had  time,  as  it  was  only  four  miles. 
From  appearance  there  might  have  been  2000  in- 
habitants. 

Manitou  was  a  town  of  four  stores  and  half 
dozen  hotels  or  big  boarding  houses,  in  which  the 
"idle  rich"  spent  their  time  in  playing  checkers, 
billiards  and  drinking  fine  liquor.  If  I  had  a  barrel 
of  money  I  would  be  with  them,  there  or  some- 
where else.  There  is  a  beautiful  soda  spring  here, 
walled  up  with  rock.  The  water  bulges  up  in  the 
center,  and  the  thousands  of  bursting  bubbles  as 
they  flow  toward  the  wall  present  a  sight  worth 
seeing.  Nice  pavilions  with  easy  seats  and  swings 
for  the  half  sick  and  convalescent,  were  some  of 
the  attractions.  We  found  very  few  springs  in  the 
mountains,  it  was  either  snow  water  or  nothing. 
In  all  my  tramps  and  travels  in  the  mountains  I 
never  saw  a  snake.  These  two  things,  snakes  and 
springs,  were  conspicuous  for  their  absence.  Colo- 
rado Springs  was  also  noted  as  a  health  and  plea- 
sure resort.  All  along  the  base  of  the  mountains 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  173 

the  air  was  pure,  being  free  from  dust  and  malaria. 
It  was  claimed  by  parties  that  there  was  in  the 
air  an  element  called  "ozone",  which  gave  health 
and  vigor  to  the  body,  but  I  am  not  stating  this  as 
a  fact. 

In  a  casual  way  we  met  an  old  mountaineer,  not 
so  old  in  years,  who  had  been  a  kind  of  scout  or 
guide  to  exploring  parties  until  he  knew  many  of 
the  trails  as  well  as  roads.  He  told  us  by  taking 
the  left  hand  fork  after  passing  through  Cochatopa 
Pass  we  would  have  shortened  our  distance  to 
Georgetown  over  a  hundred  miles.  By  going  back 
he  said  about  twenty  miles  to  the  edge  of 
South  Park  there  is  a  pathway  leading  all  the  way 
to  Georgetown,  crossing  the  road  from  Denver  to 
Fairplay  about  ten  miles  east  of  Halls  Gulch.  As 
that  suited  our  "ticket"  exactly  we  offered  him 
$5.00  to  show  us  the  trail,  and  that  suited  his 
"ticket."  Next  morning  about  sunrise  he  rode  into 
our  camp  and  found  us  ready  to  start,  having  pur- 
chased two  weeks'  supplies  the  evening  before.  A 
few  miles  north  from  the  base  of  Pikes'  Peak  he 
pointed  out  rather  a  dim  trail,  which  we  followed 
all  next  day  when  late  in  the  evening  it  ceased  to 
exist.  He  was  kind  enough  on  parting  to  tell  us  if 
the  trail  played  out,  keep  due  north  and  we  would 
be  sure  to  find  the  road,  a  fact  we  already  knew. 
We  were  thirty  miles  or  more  from  the  designated 
crossing  of  the  trail  and  road.  While  we  had  lost 
the  trail,  if  such  existed,  yet  we  were  not  lost  in  a 
strict  meaning  of  the  word,  for  we  had  no  uneasi- 
ness about  finding  our  way  out. 

The  section  of  country  we  were  passing  through 
had  a  peculiar  grandeur  and  wildness  which  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe,  though  it  was  well  worth 
seeing.  Under  different  conditions  we  might  have 
done  a  little  prospecting,  for  there  was  no  good 
reason  why  mines  might  not  exist  here  as  well  as 
other  localities.  Fortunately  we  had  with  us  a 
pocket  compass  which  always  told  the  truth  about 
the  direction  toward  the  North,  though  at  times 


174  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

if  I  had  trusted  my  own  judgment  we  might  have 
traveled  in  a  different  direction.  It  was  impossible 
to  go  in  anything-  like  a  straight  line,  clue  to  the 
rugged  nature  of  the  country,  and  more  than  one 
high  peak  that  had  to  be  surrounded.  It  took  us 
four  days  to  travel  the  last  supposed  thirty  miles, 
and  no  doubt  we  went  sixty  miles  in  doing  so. 

One  feature  of  our  different  encampments  I  have 
failed  to  mention  up  to  the  present  time.  When  we 
struck  camp,  if  only  one  night  or  a  month,  before 
retiring  we  broke  pine  boughs  and  spread  them 
on  the  ground  shingle  fashion  with  the  broken  part 
next  to  the  ground.  By  spreading  over  this  a  pair 
of  heavy  blankets  we  had  a  bed  like  a  spring  mat- 
tress and  as  soft  as  a  cushion.  There  was  a  kind  of 
aroma  from  the  pine  boughs  which  was  somni- 
fic  in  its  effect.  With  the  twinkling  stars  above, 
and  the  moaning  winds  in  the  pinery,  there  was  no 
use  for  any  one  to  "rock  the  cradle."  No  matter 
how  much  toil  during  the  day,  with  a  good  night 
of  sleep  the  muscles  of  the  body  are  restored  as 
well  as  the  activity  of  the  mind.  Nature  requires 
this  much  of  all  her  children. 

It  was  yet  forty  miles  to  Georgetown,  and  then 
some  more,  with  rugged  mountains  all  the  way, 
but  the  trail  was  some  better  and  easier  to  find. 
We  made  our  last  camp  at  the  far  end  of  a  nice 
little  lake,  something  near  a  mile  long  and  half  a 
mile  wide,  and  about  fifteen  miles  from  George- 
town. At  the  other  end  of  the  lake  we  saw  in  pass- 
ing a  few  hunters  in  camp.  I  am  unable  to  say  what 
they  were  hunting.  On  hearing  the  rapid  yelping 
of  dogs  we  looked  up  the  trail,  and  saw  two  coal 
black  grayhounds  in  close  pursuit  of  a  big  jack 
rabbit.  They  passed  about  ten  feet  from  us  at  full 
speed.  It  was  a  pretty  race  but  too  soon  over.  I 
think  the  jack  outrun  the  hounds. 

Next  day  in  the  afternoon  we  drove  up  in  front 
of  the  "little  old  cabin"  and  made  a  deposit  of  our 
plunder.  At  first  in  the  livery  stable  our  animals 
refused  to  eat  the  dry  hay  and  pint  of  oats  allowed 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  175 

them.  We  went  at  once  to  see  a  party  that  owned 
a  train  of  pack  animals,  and  after  some  parley 
closed  a  sale  at  $5.00  more  than  we  paid  for  them, 
though  we  ought  to  have  received  more,  as  they 
were  in  fine  shape.  The  burros  had  been  so  true 
and  faithful  all  the  time  that  I  felt  toward  them 
like  I  did  toward  the  muley  oxen  I  had  driven 
across  the  plains.  Part  of  next  day  we  spent  in 
looking  for  Tom  Johns,  as  Daniel  was  ready  to 
make  his  report  to  him  as  a  partner.  He  left  about 
the  same  time  we  did  and  no  one  had  ever  heard 
from  him,  in  fact  he  never  was  heard  from  even 
at  a  later  period.  He  had  plenty  of  money  and 
might  be  doing  well,  though  plenty  of  money  often 
leads  a  man  into  trouble,  it  depends  upon  the  man. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  getting  nearly  to 
the  end  of  my  row,  and  no  use  trying  to  go  any 
further.  I  was  now  past  thirty-six  years  of  age 
and  a  few  gray  hairs  forcibly  reminded  me  that 
old  age,  if  nothing  else,  would  eventually  claim 
its  own.  All  my  thoughts  and  plans  for  the  last 
eight  years  had  been  in  line  that  I  would  in  some 
way  own  in  whole  or  part  a  valuable  paying  mine ; 
however,  I  was  not  in  the  habit  of  building  air- 
castles.  While  this  plan,  so  to  speak,  or  rather 
hope  as  it  was,  seemed  both  laudable  and  possible, 
yet  it  had  failed  to  materialize  or  reached  a  tan- 
gible shape.  Continuity  may  be  one  of  the  cardinal 
virtues,  yet  it  is  not  prudent  to  give  it  a  life  long 
test. 

My  first  big  failure  was  in  my  lack  of  efforts  to 
obtain  a  better  education.  This  failure  was  caused 
by  the  Civil  War,  as  previously  mentioned,  and  now 
I  was  about  ready  to  abandon  the  idea  of  recouping 
this  loss  by  getting  rich  quick,  yet  there  was  no 
use  in  hanging  a  dark  cloud  over  the  future.  From 
the  time  we  broke  camp  on  the  Uncampahgre  I 
had  been  seriously  thinking  there  might  be  some 
other  pursuit  in  life  that  would  bring  better  re- 
sults. Though  I  said  nothing  about  it,  yet  the  time 
had  come  to  mention  the  matter  to  Daniel  and  let 


176  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

him  know  my  decision ;  also  to  test  his  ideas  in 
regard  to  leaving  the  country.  He  was  eight  years 
my  junior  and  could  afford  to  spend  a  few  more 
years  chasing  the  rainbow,  so  he  decided  to  remain 
a  while  longer.  I  explained  to  him  that  part  of  my 
object  in  returning  to  our  native  home  was  con- 
tingent upon  certain  events  which  might  happen, 
and  then  again  they  might  not.  In  case  they  did, 
my  life  would  be  spent  in  a  different  channel,  and 
my  career  in  the  mountains  would  be  over  for  all 
time  to  come.  Under  these  uncertain  conditions 
the  cabin  and  all  my  mining  interests  would  belong 
to  him,  and  I  would  send  him  a  deed  to  that  effect 
later. 

At  this  particular  time  there  was  no  lingering 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  Harmon  would  pay  the 
$1,800.  and  over  he  had  collected  under  the  power 
of  attorney  I  had  given  him.  With  the  mineral  spe- 
cimens nicely  packed  in  a  box  for  that  purpose,  I 
was  prepared  to  make  a  report  to  Judge  Harmon 
and  Mr.  Colins.  In  taking  the  specimens  out,  one  at 
a  time,  I  gave  them  a  description  of  its  location, 
interspersing  my  remarks  with  various  things  in 
regard  to  the  rough  features  of  the  country.  Seem- 
ingly they  were  both  very  much  interested,  and  also 
highly  pleased  with  my  successs  in  making  disco- 
veries. From  their  view  of  the  enterprise  all  we 
had  to  do  was  to  follow  up  what  had  been  done 
in  order  to  make  big  money.  They  both  paid  the 
amount  due  me,  but  my  report  was  not  finished. 
The  most  important  part  of  the  report  was  yet  to 
make,  though  Mr.  Colins  wished  to  defer  the  matter 
until  after  banking  hours,  and  then  he  could  give 
it  more  attention.  On  meeting  a  second  time  I  in- 
formed them  that  I  carried  with  me  all  the  time  a 
blowpipe,  and  the  ingredients  for  making  a  test 
of  any  mineral  that  might  be  found.  That  I  would 
not  consider  myself  properly  equipped  as  a  pros- 
pector without  some  way  of  knowing  the  value  of 
a  piece  of  ore.  I  then  told  them  that  I  had  made  a 
careful  assay,  not  only  of  these  specimens,  but  also 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  177 

other  specimens  obtained  from  mines  discovered 
by  other  parties,  and  that  they  were  all  without 
any  exception  low  grade  mineral. 

In  view  of  this  fact  I  confessed  to  them  that  I 
was  greatly  disappointed  with  our  venture,  and  that 
I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  to  return  to  my 
native  home  and  give  up  all  further  mining  efforts. 
It  seems  strange  that  they  did  not  accept  the  im- 
portance of  the  fact  that  our  ore  was  low  grade 
in  the  same  light  I  did.  Possibly  they  doubted  my 
ability  to  make  even  an  approximate  assay,  though 
did  not  say  so,  at  any  rate  they  contended  that  it 
would  not  be  justice  to  them  or  myself  to  get  "in 
sight  of  the  game  and  then  quit  the  hunt,"  as  they 
put  it.     In  the  conversation,  which  was  a  friendly 
discussion,  in  regard  to  our  future  progress  in  the 
new  mining  country,  I  learned  their  plans  was  to 
form  a  Stock  Company  embracing  all  the  mines  I 
had  discovered.  Out  of  the  proceeds  in  sale  of  stock 
part  would  be  set  aside  for  developing  the  property 
and  the  balance  retained  for  the  benefit  of  the  ori- 
ginal owners.  Judge  Harmon  was  a  good  lawyer 
and  knew  how  to  manipulate  a  scheme  of  this  cha- 
racter. I  noticed  one  thing  in  particular,  they  never 
mentioned  the  fact  that  our  mineral  was  low  grade. 
I  had  told  them  the  truth  about  it  one  time,  and 
there   was   no   use   making  myself   a   nuisance   by 
continually  referring  to  it. 

Both  these  gentlemen  were  men  of  some  wealth, 
or  at  least  I  thought  so,  and  doubtless  had  influence 
with  others  of  that  kind,  which  of  itself  is  worth 
a  good  deal.  Their  judgment  in  fact  might  be  better 
than  my  own.  Making  a  second  detour  through  the 
country  would  be  far  less  labor  than  the  first  one, 
for  I  had  already  climbed  many  of  the  high  peaks, 
and  no  use  to  repeat  that  part  of  the  program. 
The  mines  were  already  located,  and  besides  all 
this  we  could  ride  both  going  and  coming  which 
made  a  big  difference. 

A  Georgetown  paper  published  two  letters  I  had 
written  it  in  regard  to  the  country,  which  they  had 


178  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

read.  The  plan  they  had  in  view  was  for  me 
when  the  season  opened,  to  do  some  more  work 
on  two  or  three  of  the  best  looking  mines  and  ship 
them  a  box  of  the  mineral,  say  fifty  or  a  hundred 
pounds,  and  write  them  letters  every  week  or  two 
in  regard  to  the  progress  I  was  making,  and  also 
the  mining  interest  of  the  country  in  general,  but 
not  to  mention  the  formation  of  a  stock  company, 
they  would  attend  to  that  at  their  end  of  the  line. 
As  this  was  extra  duty  and  responsibility  on  my 
part,  they  proposed  to  pay  a  third  each  of  all  ex- 
pense including  my  wages  at  $6.00  per  day,  instead 
of  $4.00  as  formerly. 

To  the  casual  observer  it  may  seem  that  there 
was  an  element  of  fraud  connected  with  this  plan, 
but  to  parties  speculating  in  the  result  of  mining 
ventures  it  was  known,  if  not  they  would  soon  find 
out,  that  mining  was  a  risky  business.  It  might 
be  rated  as  a  species  of  honest  gambling,  where  the 
chances  of  failure  were  at  least  ten,  against  one  in 
favor  of  success.  Under  this  arrangement,  as  sug- 
gested, there  was  no  chance  for  me  to  lose  any- 
thing, unless  failing  to  make  a  large  amount  in 
the  deal  could  be  considered  a  loss,  which  of  course 
would  be  an  unfair  construction  of  the  word. 

If  I  returned  to  my  old  home,  with  all  its  fond 
memories,  I  might  feel  as  I  did  on  getting  home 
from  the  war.  After  spending  two  days  and  nights 
there  at  that  time  an  occupation  presented  itself 
and  that  ended  my  visit,  and  no  doubt  it  would  be 
the  same  thing  over.  Considering  these  and  other 
uncertain  conditions  surrounding  my  future  course 
I  concluded  to  accept  their  proposition,  and  we  en- 
tered into  a  written  agreement  to  that  effect.  As 
this  was  a  matter  of  more  than  usual  importance  to 
me  at  the  time  I  have  taken  more  space  to  detail 
the  particulars  than  was  intended.  When  this  bu- 
siness was  disposed  of,  at  my  first  opportunity  I 
asked  Judge  Harmon  about  the  money  he  had  col- 
lected for  me  in  my  absence.  To  my  great  surprise 
I  learned  from  him  that  he  had  used  it  along  with 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  179 

his  own  in  building  another  residence  of  a  more 
expensive  style,  which  was  now  in  process  of  build- 
ing and  nearly  completed.  Of  course  he  knew  as 
well  as  I  did  that  it  was  very  poor  business  to  use 
another  man's  money  without  his  consent,  and  I 
had  no  hesitancy  in  telling  him  so.  His  rather  lame 
excuse  that  he  thought  it  better,  and  that  I  would 
so  consider  it,  to  have  my  money  out  at  interest, 
than  in  my  pocket  or  laying  idle  in  some  bank.  I 
told  him  on  general  principles  this  was  true  enough, 
yet  I  preferred  to  handle  my  own  money  and  make 
my  own  investments. 

My  disappointment  was  not  so  much  a  want  of 
confidence  in  the  Judge's  honesty,  integrity  or  sol- 
vency, as  in  the  fact  that  I  wanted  to  show  my 
money  to  my  father  and  mother,  and  perhaps  to 
one  or  two  others.  Possibly  it  was  better  for  me 
financially  in  the  long  run,  but  a  man  can  stand 
straighter  and  walk  "pearter"  with  a  thousand  or 
two  dollars  in  his  pocket  than  he  can  with  only  a 
few  hundred.  At  any  rate  there  was  no  use  to  kick, 
squirm  or  complain  for  that  would  only  make  mat- 
ters worse.  However,  we  parted  on  friendly  terms, 
yet  I  could  not  help  feeling  a  little  grouchy.  As 
my  trip  back  in  the  mountains  was  about  five 
months  off,  I  was  in  no  great  hurry  in  starting 
back  home,  in  fact  ought  to  have  put  it  off  another 
year  under  the  circumstances,  no  doubt  about  that. 
While  in  this  quandary  over  the  proper  thing  to  do 
I  happened  to  meet  my  old  friend  Rogers  on  the 
street.  He  and  his  family  had  been  my  near  neigh- 
bor for  many  years.  When  he  sold  his  mine  he  spent 
part  of  the  $50,000  for  a  ranch  about  six  miles 
out  from  Denver.  He  insisted  on  my  going  home 
with  him  to  see  his  farm,  which  I  did. 

He  owned  about  six  hundred  acres  below  the 
supply  ditch,  divided  off  into  fields  to  suit  his  pur- 
poses. He  showed  me  one  area  of  about  200  acres 
from  which  he  saved  6,000  bushels  of  wheat.  It  is 
said  the  finest  flour  in  the  world  is  made  from 
wheat  grown  in  this  section.  His  land  below  the 


180  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

ditch  was  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  on  which 
many  kind  of  vegetables  grew  to  a  high  degree  of 
perfection,  and  found  a  ready  market  in  Denver. 
Among  other  things  he  owned  a  fine  herd  of  sheep 
and  some  young  cattle.  He  pointed  out  to  me  that 
the  land  above  the  ditch  was  not  worth  $1.00  per 
acre  while  that  below  would  easily  bring  $100.00 
per  acre.  He  did  very  little  work  himself,  yet  his 
net  income  ranged  between  five  and  eight  thousand 
dollars  per  year. 

Traveling  across  the  plains,  sitting  on  a  cushion 
seat,  and  pulled  by  an  engine  is  quite  a  different 
thing  from  crossing  with  a  wagon  train  pulled  by 
slow-moving  oxen,  and  every  man  doing  his  own 
walking.  If  any  one  refuses  to  believe  there  is  a 
big  difference  let  him  try  it.  Looking  out  of  the 
window  of  the  moving  train,  at  times  I  could  see 
the  print  of  the  old  road  we  had  traveled.  When  we 
reached  a  proper  distance  by  keeping  a  sharp  look- 
out I  saw  the  place  where  we  fought  the  Indians, 
and  further  along  where  we  buried  one  of  our  com- 
rades who  had  been  scalped. 

During  the  trip  a  rather  amusing  episode  occur- 
red in  the  shape  of  a  race  between  the  train  and  a 
small  herd  of  antelopes,  perhaps  thirty  in  number. 
It  was  hardly  intended  as  a  special  diversion  for 
the  passengers,  yet  they  enjoyed  the  race  all  the 
same.  Going  in  the  same  direction  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  apart,  it  was  nip  and  tuck 
which  one  went  the  fastest.  From  the  baggage  car 
we  could  see  and  hear  the  rapid  firing  of  magazine 
rifles  not  carried  for  that  purpose,  but  specially  for 
general  protection.  We  could  see  the  animals  fall 
and  knew  some  of  them  were  being  killed.  The 
train  stopped,  most  of  the  passengers  and  the 
train  crew  brought  in  four  of  them  and  they  were 
put  in  the  baggage  car.  It  might  seem  this  was 
taking  an  unfair  advantage  of  the  contest. 

Early  in  the  morning  by  going  under  part  of 
St.  Louis  the  train  stopped  at  the  big  depot.  Walk- 
ing up  the  street  I  saw  a  sign  hung  out,  "Board 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  181 

$1.00  per  week."  It  had  always  been  a  mystery  to 
me  how  so  many  people  in  a  big  city  managed  to 
make  a  living,  maybe  I  could  find  out  right  here. 
The  proprietor,  a  healthy  looking  German,  said  the 
bell  will  ring  now  in  a  few  minutes.  As  soon  as 
the  signal  was  given  about  twenty  "bummy"  look- 
ing men  passed  back  to  what  I  supposed  was  the 
dining  room,  and  I  followed  the  procession.  They 
quietly  arranged  themselves  around  a  long  table 
each  man  helping  himself. 

There  was  nothing  on  the  table  except  a  lot  of 
brown  looking  bread  and  cold  half-cooked  beef, 
which,  perhaps  the  butcher  couldn't  sell,  and  a 
bucket  of  water  with  one  dipper.  There  was  good 
order,  no  pushing  or  loud  talking,  perhaps  this  was 
according  to  the  rule.  I  was  standing  back  looking 
on  without  any  intention  of  joining  "Gideon's  band" 
when  the  proprietor  came  around  and  said  to  me, 
"You  can  eat  with  me  and  my  family,"  for  which 
I  paid  him  twenty-five  cents  and  it  was  well  worth 
it  for  I  was  hungry.  But  I  had  seen  and  learned 
enough  for  one  time,  and  decided  to  change  my 
location.  From  there  I  went  to  the  Southern  Hotel, 
which  they  were  building  when  I  was  there  eight 
years  before,  and  as  it  was  to  be  absolutely  fire- 
proof. I  had  some  curiosity  to  see  it.  The  charges 
there  was  $4.00  per  day,  but  the  difference  in  price 
was  no  greater  than  the  difference  in  other  respects. 
This  palatial  edifice  was  built  of  iron  and  stone. 
The  sills,  joists  and  rafters  were  made  of  iron.  The 
walls,  floors,  stairways  and  bannisters  were  made 
of  stone  in  fact  there  was  nothing  but  chairs,  tables 
and  bedding  that  would  burn.  I  remained  there 
three  days  looking  over  the  city,  however,  not  with 
a  view  of  buying  even  a  smal  part  of  it. 

When  convenient  and  not  in  a  hurry  I  always 
traveled  by  water.  To  me  there  was  a  peculiar 
charm  and  fascination  in  this  mode  of  transit.  Due 
to  this  penchant  I  took  passage  on  a  boat  bound 
for  Memphis,  and  maybe  further.  It  was  a  slow 
way  of  getting  there,  but  it  was  a  pleasant  one 


182  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

and  beat  walking.  At  times  we  were  hung  up  on 
account  of  heavy  fog,  and  at  other  times  stuck  in 
a  sand  bar,  and  to  avoid  this  a  man  sat  on  the  prow 
of  the  boat  throwing  a  plumbline.  When  the  chan- 
nel was  less  than  six  feet  a  tinkling  sound  of  a 
bell  could  be  heard  back  in  the  engine  room.  When 
the  depth  was  greater  than  ten  feet  he  would  sing 
out  "mark  twain."  I  have  been  told  this  is  where 
Clemmons  got  his  pseudonym  as  a  writer — mean- 
ing deep  water. 

On  a  trip  of  this  character,  which  lasted  a  week 
or  more,  a  number  of  both  amusing  and  interesting 
events  occurred,  which  are  still  fresh  in  my  mind, 
but  will  not  try  to  mention  them  at  present.  We 
could  feel  the  pulsating  effect  of  a  warmer  breeze 
as  each  day  brought  us  further  south.  While  on 
passenger  deck  we  could  frequently  see,  while 
passing  some  island,  large  flocks  of  cranes  and 
wild  geese.  Attention  was  called  one  day  to  a  large 
buck,  at  least  he  had  large  horns,  that  had  crossed 
our  line  of  headway,  swimming  from  the  Arkansas 
side.  A  party  of  hunters  on  board  fired  a  dozen 
shots  or  more,  but  without  effect,  for  we  saw  him 
make  a  safe  landing  on  the  Kentucky  side  and  dis- 
appear. 

While  on  the  train  from  Memphis  I  formed  an 
idea  to  pass  myself  off  as  a  stranger  when  I  reached 
Larkinsville.  I  had  barely  touched  the  ground  and 
had  taken  a  few  steps  when  several  parties  came 
up  and  called  me  by  name,  there  was  no  use  trying 
to  play  off  as  a  stranger.  Of  course  I  was  glad  to 
see  my  friends  and  relatives,  especially  my  dear 
father  and  mother.  It  might  be  to  tedious  to  tell 
the  consecutive  events  that  occurred,  or  to  men- 
tion the  various  changes  that  had  taken  place,  nor 
would  it  be  in  line  with  this  part  of  my  narrative 
even  if  I  wished  to  do  so. 

Part  of  my  object  in  returning  at  this  time,  may 
be  the  greater  part,  was  to  see  a  lady — Miss  Dora 
Pittman.  On  leaving  eight  years  previous  my  agree- 
ment with  her  was  to  return  in  three  years.  By 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  183 

looking  back  through  these  pages  the  cause  can  be 
seen  why  I  did  not  comply  with  this  promise.  She 
asked  to  be  released  from  this  engagement,  which 
was  right,  and  in  justice  to  her  was  granted.  With 
me  "absence  had  only  caused  the  heart  to  grow 
fonder,"  but  she  might  have  drifted  into  a  different 
channel,  where  the  thoughts  and  feelings  had 
changed.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  uncertainty 
formerly  referred  to. 

To  be  brief  and  concise  in  relating  this  most  im- 
portant event  in  all  my  earthly  career  will  say 
that  on  February  24th,  1875  we  were  married.  My 
purpose  in  life  has  been  to  give  her  as  little  cause 
for  regret  as  possible,  considering  my  imperfec- 
tions, for  I  never  posed  as  a  saint.  The  latter  part 
of  April  I  started  on  my  second  trip  to  the  moun- 
tains, and  about  the  first  of  May  found  me  in  Den- 
ver ready  to  comply  with  my  part  of  the  contract 
as  previously  agreed  upon.  My  partners  were  still 
hopeful  of  our  success. 

My  trip  and  wages  were  both  to  commence  on 
the  first  of  May.  I  thought  more  of  my  wages  than 
I  did  of  the  prospects  of  making  big  money.  The 
very  idea  of  men  investing  their  money  without  a 
thorough  investigation  seemed  to  me  absurd,  but 
possibly  my  ideas  were  wrong.  Just  how  to  get  back 
into  the  mines  was  a  problem  left  for  me  to  solve. 
I  might  buy  a  pony  and  ride  through  alone  in  about 
ten  days,  but  traveling  and  camping  alone  in  the 
mountain  wilds  is  not  a  thing  to  inspire  pleasant 
dreams.  I  remained  around  Denver  several  days 
and  found  several  parties  expecting  to  make  the 
trip  but  not  ready  to  start. 

While  in  this  dilemma  I  concluded  to  pay  George- 
town another  visit  and  see  how  Daniel  was  getting 
along.  He  was  working  on  a  lease  with  another 
party,  but  not  making  much,  yet  they  had  a  pros- 
pect of  striking  a  pocket  of  good  ore;  more  than 
I  could  say.  He  had  no  thought  of  going  with  me 
on  another  wild  goose  chase.  While  there  I  called 
on  my  friend  Pope.  He  seemed  to  think  some  one 


184  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

had  not  treated  him  right  in  leaving  him  out  of  my 
prospecting  venture.  He  could  count  himself  over 
$1,000  ahead  in  his  association  with  me  as  a  part- 
ner. Mr.  E.  Q.  Walcot  the  law  partner  of  Mr.  Pope 
I  had  met  before  quite  often.  He  is  the  only  person 
I  ever  saw  who  by  changing  his  seat  a  little,  could 
write  as  well  with  the  left  hand  as  with  the  right. 
Colorado  is  called  the  Centennial  State  because  it 
was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1876.  Mr.  Walcot 
became  a  famous  senator  from  this  state,  a  few 
years  later,  gaining  a  reputation  as  such  in  Eu- 
rope as  well  as  America. 

Part  of  my  business  now  was  to  talk  about  the 
wonderful  resources  of  the  San  Juan  country,  and 
the  vast  amount  of  mineral  waiting  for  skillful 
miners.  The  editor  of  the  paper  was  kind  enough 
to  mention  that  I  was  on  my  way  to  this  section 
for  the  second  time.  This  of  itself  caused  many  to 
ask  me  the  best  way  to  get  there.  The  output  of 
the  mines  around  Georgetown  was  not  nearly  as 
good  as  it  had  been,  in  fact  some  of  them  were 
"playing  out."  Many  had  already  left,  and  others 
were  thinking  about  it.  A  mining  town  can  un- 
make just  about  as  fast  as  it  built  up. 

The  dilemma  that  had  troubled  my  mind  regard- 
ing how  to  get  back  to  the  Animus  river  dis- 
appeared one  day  in  about  ten  minutes.  Dr.  Bell, 
who  owned  a  team  and  wagon,  proposed  to  carry 
me  and  what  supplies  I  might  wish,  free  of  charge, 
to  pilot  them  through  the  mountains,  a  near  way 
that  could  be  taken.  Two  other  men,  Steve  Baxter 
and  another  man  whose  name  I  am  not  able  to 
recall,  were  included  in  the  transport,  and  all  of 
them  about  ready  to  start.  We  went  by  Idaho 
Springs,  and  the  first  night  out,  camped  not  far 
from  the  hotel  thirty  miles  west  of  Denver  where 
I  had  stopped  on  my  way  to  hunt  Burkholder. 

From  this  point  we  had  a  direct  route  through 
Fairplay,  the  bridge  across  the  Arkansas  River,  and 
the  low  gap  between  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  range, 
and  the  Cochatopa  hills,  cutting  off,  so  to  speak, 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  185 

an  elbow  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles.  Reaching 
Saguache  we  stopped  in  front  of  the  merchant's 
store  that  had  formerly  been  very  kind  to  me.  He 
was  even  more  so  now  for  I  brought  him  new  cus- 
tomers. We  remained  there  two  nights  and  one  day 
in  order  to  rest  and  ask  a  few  questions  about  the 
mines  and  the  road  leading  to  them.  I  met  several 
parties  that  had  heard  I  was  the  first  one  to  dis- 
cover mines  at  the  forks  of  the  Gunnison.  We 
bought  supplies  to  last  two  months,  as  they  were 
much  cheaper  than  they  would  be  in  the  mining 
region. 

In  passing  the  forks  of  the  Gunnison,  where  the 
three  men  were  killed,  and  where  we  had  over- 
taken the  road-builders  some  nine  months  previous, 
I  noticed  ten  houses  already  built  and  others  in 
process  of  construction,  and  they  had  named  the 
town  Lake  City.  Whether  they  knew  the  pauper 
quality  of  the  ore  or  not  I  never  asked,  it  was  my 
policy  to  let  every  one  find  that  out  for  himself. 
Possibly  there  might  be  good  mines  there,  but  I 
had  spent  eight  days  traveling  over  the  adjacent 
mountains  without  finding  anything  of  that  cha- 
racter. 

Finally  we  reached  our  destination  and  struck 
camp  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  place 
where  Daniel  and  I  made  up  our  minds  to  leave 
the  country  on  account  of  "pauperosity"  of  the 
mines.  This  was  a  nice  plateau  of  several  hundred 
acres  between  the  head  waters  of  the  two  rivers, 
and  good  grazing  for  stock  as  well  as  a  fine  field 
for  prospecting.  Several  houses  had  been  built  since 
I  left,  and  there  was  some  talk  of  calling  the  place 
Ouray.  The  doctor  and  his  men  built  them  a  cabin 
the  first  thing,  but  for  myself  I  preferred  camping 
out  in  the  open  until  a  definite  inducement  pre- 
sented itself. 

It  was  now  about  the  first  of  June.  My  object 
in  view  was  well  defined  and  the  hard  part  of  the 
work  was  over.  I  wrote  Judge  Harmon  of  my  safe 
arrival  and  that  he  might  look  for  a  box  of  mineral 


186  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

as  soon  as  possible,  and  a  more  lengthy  letter 
would  follow.  Some  of  the  mines  previously  disco- 
vered, and  partially  developed,  were  only  two  miles 
from  camp,  and  with  hammer  and  drill  I  made 
them  a  friendly  visit.  The  bright  looking  stuff, 
formerly  brought  to  light  which  passed  for  ore, 
now  had  more  the  appearance  of  black  rock,  but 
this  appearance  was  only  on  the  outside,  as  it  was 
bright  when  again  broken. 

Three  or  four  shots  each  in  two  or  three  of  the 
best  looking  mines  enabled  me  to  select  a  number 
of  fine  specimens  which  were  carefully  wrapped  in 
paper  to  protect  them  from  the  air.  To  make  more 
sure  of  their  value,  several  assays  were  made  with 
the  same  results  as  formerly.  In  passing  along, 
though  not  specially  looking  for  it,  I  made  a  very 
promising  discovery  less  than  a  mile  from  camp. 
Prospecting  like  everything  else  becomes  a  habit. 
It  was  part  of  my  nature,  whether  thinking  about 
it  or  not,  to  look  for  mineral  croppings  and  float 
rock,  and  this  habit  followed  me  the  balance  of 
my  life. 

The  mine  we  had  worked  on  more  than  all  the 
others  was  on  the  mountain  above  Eureka  Gulch 
some  ten  miles  distant,  but  it  was  necessary  to  get 
ore  from  this  mine  to  complete  the  shipment. 
There  was  no  other  way  only  to  walk  down  there, 
even  if  I  had  to  walk  back  the  same  day.  I  found 
my  old  friends  that  owned  the  mine  with  ruby  sil- 
ver, formerly  mentioned,  but  they  had  been  absent 
during  the  winter.  They  very  kindly  invited  me  to 
remain  overnight'  with  them.  We  had  a  great  deal 
to  talk  about,  though  nothing  said  in  regard  to 
the  low  grade  character  of  their  ore.  I  knew  this 
subject  was  not  for  discussion.  They  still  had  full 
ideas  about  their  ability  as  prospectors. 

When  men  know  a  great  deal  that  is  not  true, 
there  is  very  little  to  be  gained  by  pointing  out 
their  errors.  They  mentioned  as  a  fact  that  a  mine 
grew  more  valuable  in  its  ore  as  depth  was  gained 
from  the  surface,  whether  by  sinking  or  drifting  on 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  187 

the  vein,  and  this  was  conceded  as  a  fact  by  every- 
one they  had  talked  with.  To  this  I  replied  it  was 
not  according  to  my  experience  and  observation.^  If 
they  were  in  Georgetown  and  went  to  the  Burleigh 
tunnel  they  would  find  where  it  crossed  a  mine  a 
thousand  feet  from  the  surface,  and  it  was  worth- 
less at  that  depth  as  well  as  at  the  top.  Take  the 
Terrible,  Dives  and  Equator  mines,  each  one  had 
produced  over  a  million  dollars,  and  were  down  to 
a  depth  of  four  to  six  hundred  feet,  yet  the  value 
of  the  ore  per  ton  had  neither  increased  or  de- 
creased, and  other  mines  would  show  the  same 
results. 

This  is  mentioned  to  show  one  reason  why  the 
prospectors  continued  to  have  confidence  in  the 
valuable  resources  of  the  country.  When  asked 
my  opinion  of  the  country  and  its  mines  I  told 
them  it  was  like  every  other  man's,  worth  very 
little ;  nothing  was  any  value  only  cold  stern  facts. 
It  will  be  seen  by  this  that  the  subject  of  the  ore 
being  low  grade  was  ignored.  These  men  like  nearly 
all  others  were  getting  their  mine  ready  for  sale 
to  some  men  with  less  sense  than  money.  It  was 
very  unpopular  to  talk  about  the  value  of  the  ore. 
The  slogan  was  quantity  and  not  quality. 

With  a  fine  specimen  of  twenty  pounds  I  made 
my  way  back  into  camp,  a  little  tired  but  not  out 
of  breath.  After  making  my  first  shipment  of  fifty 
pounds,  and  writing  a  leter  in  regard  to  the  mining 
activities  of  the  country  and  many  other  things 
"appertaining  thereto,"  I  felt  the  burden  of  my  duty 
had  been  performed.  With  this  part  of  our  agree- 
ment on  my  part  filled  in  first  class  shape  I  felt 
like  moving  out  on  "Easy  Street"  to  work  or  play 
as  it  might  suit  my  taste.  I  wrote  the  Judge  a 
second  letter  in  regard  to  my  new  discovery,  pro- 
posing to  ship  them  some  of  the  mineral  if  they 
wished  to  see  it. 

Weeks  and  weeks  passed  and  no  letter.  The  time 
seemed  long  to  me,  for  naturally  enough  I  wanted 
to  be  back  in  my  native  home,  yet  if  we  made  a 


188  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

failure  in  our  efforts,  the  cause  must  be  on  some 
other  shoulders.  Finally  I  received  a  letter  acknow- 
ledging receipt  of  box  and  contents.  The  Judge 
generally  wrote  long  letters  but  this  was  brief  and 
rather  formal,  in  which  he  stated  they  were  making 
some  head-way  in  forming  the  stock  mining  com- 
pany, though  capital  at  that  time  was  inclined 
to  be  a  little  shy.  From  this  I  inferred  they  were 
meeting  with  very  little  success,  which  would  not 
surprise  me  at  all. 

Another  small  shipment  of  mineral  was  made,  this 
time  from  the  new  discovery,  followed  by  a  letter 
which  they  could  use  if  it  suited  their  purpose  to  do 
so.  In  this  letter  I  asked  them  if  they  had  any  sug- 
gestion to  make  that  would  benefit  the  company.  I 
was  ready  and  willing  to  do  anything  on  my  part 
of  the  enterprise.  A  month  or  more  slipped  away 
and  yet  no  instructions  or  advice.  There  was  only 
one  legitimate  conclusion  reasonable  to  me,  that 
they  were  making  a  failure,  and  would  not  admit 
the  fact  by  writing. 

Cold  weather  was  approaching,  which  meant 
deep  snow  in  that  country.  I  had  written  several 
letters  without  any  reply,  and  I  began  to  think 
about  some  way  of  getting  back  to  Georgetown, 
for  Dr.  Bell  and  his  party  were,  like  other  pros- 
pectors, enthused  over  their  prospects  of  getting 
several  mines  in  shape  for  a  big  sale,  so  their 
movements  were  uncertain.  A  stray  pony  had  taken 
up  with  the  doctor's  horses,  supposed  to  belong  to 
some  prospector.  He  had  tried  to  run  the  pony  off, 
but  it  would  not  run.  As  it  was  gentle,  I  asked  the 
doctor  to  loan  me  his  saddle  and  bridle,  and  I 
would  ride  it  around  and  find  an  owner. 

By  visiting  the  different  camps  and  not  being 
able  to  find  an  owner  I  decided  it  did  not  have  any. 
I  rode  all  the  way  to  Silverton,  twenty-five  miles 
distant,  stayed  all  night,  paid  a  man  $2.00  to  write 
a  few  lines  on  a  book  describing  the  pony  which 
he  called  "posting."  While  there,  parties  found  a 
mark  on  the  animal  showing  it  belonged  to  the 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  189 

Indians,  and  now  according  to  law  belonged  to  me 
as  much  as  anyone,  as  somebody  ought  to  take 
care  of  it.  Under  this  version  of  ownership  I  bought 
a  saddle,  bridle  and  blanket,  fixed  them  up  in  a 
bundle  and  carried  them  back  with  me  to  camp. 
There  was  no  earthly  use  to  remain  longer  in  this 
section.  I  had  done  my  duty  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  and  was  now  equipped  for  the  return  trip. 
Wagons  occasionally  brought  supplies  of  different 
kinds  to  the  few  merchants  in  this  country.  I  pre- 
ferred to  have  company  at  least  as  far  as  Saguache, 
and  it  was  nearly  a  week  before  I  found  a  wagon 
returning  to  that  place.  As  we  passed  through  Lake 
City  I  saw  they  were  still  building  houses,  and 
one  man  was  nearly  ready  to  issue  a  paper  for 
the  reading  public.  This  was  the  western  way  of 
doing  things. 

We  camped  one  night  on  the  Saboia  where  we 
had  heard  the  beavers  slide  in  the  water.  A  man 
had  built  him  a  house  there  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  place  where  we  first  camped,  and  had 
his  wife  and  children  with  him.  He  also  had  cattle 
and  sheep  grazing  on  the  rich  valley  below,  for- 
merly mentioned.  Again  I  remained  in  Saguache 
two  nights  and  a  day,  for  I  seemed  to  like  the 
people.  By  making  long  and  short  rides,  to  suit  the 
distance,  I  managed  to  find  a  house  to  stay  at  all 
the  way  to  Georgetown,  except  one  night,  I 
camped  all  alone  near  the  lake  where  we  saw  the 
greyhounds  chase  the  jack  rabbit.  Next  day  I 
reached  the  little  old  cabin  a  few  days  earlier  than 
the  year  before.  This  time  I  sold  the  pony  and  the 
outfit  for  $35.00  to  a  livery  man,  which  was  a 
good  deal  less  than  it  was  worth,  as  it  was  a 
good  one. 

My  career  as  a  prospector  and  miner  was  now 
about  to  reach  the  closing  period.  I  had  sowed  the 
last  handful  of  wild  oats,  and  the  wild  goose  no- 
tions had  been  eliminated  from  my  system.  There 
was  a  charm  and  fascination  about  the  adjacent 
high  cliffs  and  the  distant  azure  piercing  peaks.  J 


190  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

could  see  them  today  and  tomorrow,  but  in  a  few 
days  I  must  bid  them  adieu,  perhaps  forever,  at 
least  I  felt  that  way. 

In  a  casual  way  I  met  my  friend  Bill  Moore.  He 
had  just  returned  from  some  point  back  East  where 
he  had  made  a  mining  sale  of  some  character.  I 
asked  him  why  he  did  not  turn  his  mining  interest 
toward  the  San  Juan  country,  and  told  him  that 
there  were  more  mines  in  that  section  than  he 
could  shake  a  stick  at  in  a  week.  He  replied  that 
reliable  information  had  reached  him  that  the  mines 
were  of  a  low  grade  quality,  which  would  by  no 
means  suit  Eastern  capital.  This  was  the  whole 
thing  in  a  nut  shell,  and  explained  why  my  part- 
ners had  failed  to  get  up  their  company.  When  it 
came  to  a  show-down  they  had  nothing  to  sell. 

To  my  great  surprise  I  met  a  man  that  asked  me 
if  I  owned  a  mine  called  the  Peru,  and  would  I  sell 
it  cheap.  This  was  the  first  mine  of  my  own  that 
I  worked  on  in  the  country,  and  assayed  only  four- 
teen ounces  to  the  ton.  I  asked  him  to  make  me  an 
offer,  remarking  at  the  same  time  that  it  ought 
to  be  worth  at  least  $500.00.  He  offered  $200.00 
and  I  said  to  him,  "Make  it  $300.00,  and  we  will 
trade."  "All  right,  make  out  the  deed  and  it  is  a 
go,"  he  replied.  We  went  to  the  Recorder's  office 
to  see  the  description  and  finding  a  blank  deed 
there  I  soon  filled  it  out  and  signed  it,  and  he  paid 
me  the  money.  This  all  happened  within  an  hour 
from  the  time  I  first  met  him. 

But  this  was  not  all.  I  had  loaned  a  man  named 
Kimberlain  $200.00  which  I  never  expected  to  get. 
He  was  now  working  on  a  lease  and  taking  out 
good  money,  and  when  I  presented  his  note  he  gave 
me  a  check  for  all  he  owed  me.  It  began  to  look 
like  things  were  coming  my  way.  Maybe  the  long 
"lean  place"  that  hung  like  an  incumbus  over  all 
my  efforts  had  at  last  given  way  to  brighter  days. 
It  is  a  mighty  long  lane  that  has  no  turn,  and  it 
was  high  time  to  reach  an  angle  of  some  kind.  This 
all  took  time,  and  yes,  my  wages  were  still  going 


ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES  191 

on  at  $4.00  per  day  and  I  was  in  a  big  hurry,  too. 

Only  one  more  day  before  my  departure,  and 
part  of  this  I  spent  in  visiting  Daniel  on  the  moun- 
tain at  his  lease.  Sometimes  he  received  good  pay 
and  at  others  very  little.  He  had  been  working 
there  nearly  a  whole  year,  barely  making  wages. 
I  handed  him  a  deed  to  the  cabin  and  to  all  my 
mining  interest  in  that  section,  and  told  him  to  do 
as  he  pleased  with  it.  I  regretted  to  leave  him  in 
the  mountains  all  alone  more  than  I  can  tell  here, 
but  we  both  understood  well  enough  that  each  one 
decided  for  himself  the  best  thing  to  do.  He  re- 
mained there  twelve  years  longer  before  returning 
to  his  native  home. 

On  the  first  day  of  December  I  met  both  my 
partners  in  Denver  City  after  an  absence  of  seven 
months.  I  gave  them  a  brief  report  of  my  trip, 
though  I  had  written  most  of  the  facts.  I  was  glad 
to  hear  them  say  that  our  failure  was  no  fault  of 
mine.  Their  part  of  the  expenses  aside  from  my 
wages  was  very  little.  Each  one  drew  his  check 
for  $280.00  which  added  to  the  amount  on  hand 
made  nearly  $1,400.  quite  an  item  considering  the 
new  responsibilities  I  had  assumed.  There  was  no 
use  explaining  to  me  the  cause  of  their  failure,  for 
I  almost  knew  that  from  the  beginning.  The  Judge 
told  me  they  were  getting  along  fine  with  the 
company  until  a  few  smart  Alex's  insisted  on  an 
assay. 

But  the  greatest  disappointment  was  yet  to  come 
when  Judge  Harmon  in  a  quiet  inoffensive  way  told 
me  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  pay  me  nearly 
$2,000.  he  had  of  my  money.  I  had  met  with  dis- 
appointments for  many  years,  but  this  was  the 
climax.  In  a  business  kind  of  way  he  handed  me  his 
note  with  positive  assurance  he  would  send  me 
the  money  by  the  first  of  next  April,  at  which  time 
he  would  receive  a  lot  of  money  from  parties  in 
Mississippi.  As  this  was  the  best  I  could  do,  there 
was  no  use  making  things  worse  by  trying  to  settle 
the  matter  in  a  personal  difficulty,  for  then  I  might 


192  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  ADVENTURES 

never  get  it.  I  might  say  in  this  connection  that  at 
the  appointed  time  he  sent  me  every  dollar  includ- 
ing the  interest. 

My  career  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  had  now  ter- 
minated forever,  though  I  felt  a  strain  of  sadness 
in  leaving  the  grand  old  peaks  and  canyons.  They 
had  for  me  a  weird  charm  and  fascination  in  spite 
of  the  many  hardships  and  privations.  It  was  fully 
my  intention  to  visit  them  at  some  future  period  if 
a  favorable  opportunity  presented  itself.  Long 
years  have  rolled  away  leaving  their  imprint  upon 
the  scroll  of  time.  With  only  a  slight  jar  I  passed 
the  eightieth  mile  post  on  life's  journey,  and  for 
all  I  know  those  old  frowning  cliffs  and  yawning 
canyons  are  still  waiting  for  me  to  return  and  claim 
my  own. 

While  still  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  yet  I  was 
willing  to  throw  up  the  sponge,  to  use  a  pugilist's 
term,  and  try  my  efforts  at  something  else.  True 
enough  my  fondest  hopes  had  been  wrecked,  still 
I  had  one  consolation,  that  of  making  an  honest 
effort.  After  all,  mediocrity  in  life  may  be  the  best 
in  many  respects.  Of  course  this  depends  upon  the 
kind  of  a  man  one  is.  According  to  my  idea,  life 
was  made  up  of  events,  and  viewing  life  from  this 
peak,  a  person  could  live  more  in  five  years  with 
a  million  dollars  to  spend,  than  he  could  in  fifty 
years  plodding  with  barely  enough  to  make  buckle 
and  tongue  meet. 

In  looking  back  over  these  written  pages  the 
past  seems  to  rise  up  before  me  like  a  dream,  and 
many  events  not  here  recorded  are  still  fresh  in 
my  memory.  The  romance  of  a  Western  life,  which 
once  had  its  charms  and  allurements,  had  in  a 
measure  grown  monotonous.  In  bidding  adieu  to 
these  high  altitudes  I  fully  realized  the  fact  that  I 
was  nearly  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  and  that  the 
flower  of  my  manhood  had  been  spent  in  trying  to 
get  rich  quick  in  an  honest  way,  and  had  failed.  I 
was  now  ready  and  willing  to  follow  the  more  plod- 
ding pursuits  of  life,  yet  I  had  no  regrets  for 
making  the  effort. 


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